Somebody To You
by Littlepham
Summary: Percy works in a guitar store and likes pop punk. Annabeth is a guitar lover and likes pop music. (All Human, AU, OOC)
1. Chapter 1

Somebody To You

_(All Human, AU, a little OOC)_

She hears the jingle of the bells above the doorway, can smell the wood polish, and can feel the vibrations of everything around her. She glances around, overwhelmed by the sight around her. She sees the multitude of guitars, all the way from the top brand names like Taylor and Fender down to the Aria and Yamaha guitars, and feels as though she might cry from the sheer perfection of it.

Annabeth walks forward, toward the clerk. He turns his attention to her and she feels as if she might die. Percy Jackson turns toward her. Percy Jackson, greenish-blue eyes and outstandingly black messy hair that makes her wonder if he styles it that way or just genuinely doesn't care about it. Either way, she thinks it looks good with his skin tone. Percy's eyes widen in surprise at the sight of her. She feels heat rise to her cheeks. _He isn't supposed to be here. Nobody was supposed to be here. What am I supposed to say? _Feeling mortified, Annabeth composes herself.

"Hi, um do you think I could see the Taylor 810ce?" she barely manages to force out.

He stares at her, just stares for a good ten seconds. _Is there something on my face? Oh gods, what should I say? _She coughs politely and manages to seemingly pretend like she hasn't noticed his gawking.

"Uh yeah, sure, whatever." He splutters. He steps away from the counter, toward the guitar and feels her stare on his back. _What is she doing here? Annabeth Chase in a guitar store? _He grabs the guitar and hands it over to her. He watches her pluck it, fascinated. _Annabeth Chase, blonde, grey eyes, one of the smartest kids in school, and a secret guitar lover? _Before he can further analyze her presence in his store, she turns to him and smiles.

"This is perfect. Thank you so much, do you think I can pay for it now?" Annabeth says.

"Yeah of course, can I have your credit card?"

She hands it over to him and feels the tension in the air. Neither of them say anything, not wanting to make the situation worse. He takes his time, remembering to go through the standard speech of replacements, capos, warranty, and other things. After his incessant rambling, she smiles at him and mutters her thanks. Annabeth turns toward the door.

"Have a nice day, Annabeth!" He calls out. She freezes and promptly turns around back towards him.

"Percy, do you think you could not mention to anybody I was here?" she asks.

_What's wrong with a guitar store, _he thinks_. _

"Alright sure, whatever you want," He mutters.

"It's not that I'm embarrassed or anything, it's just I'd rather not have any hounding on my life you know?"

_What the hell is that supposed to mean? _He gives her a disbelieving look and turns toward a new Gibson model.

"Thanks." She flashes him a strained smile and paces toward the door, guitar still in hand. _He probably thinks I'm a spoiled brat that takes everything too seriously. Fuck, I should've gone to the other guitar center. _She almost groans and then realizes she's in public and her life isn't a teen drama.

Annabeth returns home, her thoughts and worries over the boy forgotten. She steps through the door, mindful of the amount of noise she makes. She didn't want to be more of a nuisance on her parents and two step brothers, Bobby and Matthew. Relieved, Annabeth begins the trek to her room. As she approaches the stairs, her mother, Athena, steps out from the kitchen and glances at the guitar in Annabeth's hands.

_Are you fucking kidding me, _Annabeth thinks_._

Athena coughs and pointedly stares at the guitar. Annabeth can feel the annoyance coming from her mother. Her mother had made it very clear that she did not approve of Annabeth's likeness towards the guitar and that she believed Annabeth should spend all possible brain capacity focused on excelling in school.

_If she thinks I'm getting rid of my guitar, she's out of her mind._

"What's that?" Athena gestures to the guitar.

"It's a guitar, mom." Athena makes a noise of impatience.

"I realize that. I meant, why do you have a guitar? Is it Thalia's?" Her mom scrutinizes her coldly.

"No, it's mine. I just bought it from the guitar center a couple streets away. It's a really nice one, a Taylor one. You know Taylor is one of the top brands for acoustic-electric guitars? Yeah, a lot of artists use them." Annabeth realizes she's rambling but can't seem to find it in her to stop.

"Annabeth, you know I'd rather have you studying instead of playing around, right?"

_That's all you want me to do. Study. If she could just lighten up a little bit on the expectations and standards of school that'd be just fucking great. _Annabeth, her growing impatience for this conversation to already be over, regards her mother and decides to just answer with a yes instead of having her mom make a big argument that'd be "tearing the family apart".

"Alright Annabeth, go upstairs. If your grades fall, I'm taking both of your guitars. Oh and can you pick your brothers up from basketball practice?" Athena turns toward the kitchen without waiting for a reply from Annabeth. Annabeth puts her stuff down, grabs her car keys, and heads out the door without another word.

Once at the school, she pulls over and texts the boys to come outside when they're done. After a good 10 minutes, she hears Bobby and Matthew bang open the doors with screams of how messed up it is that Coach put another kid as point guard when it should've obviously been Bobby. Annabeth rolls her eyes and presumes to watch her brothers clumsily put their stuff in the back. After she starts driving home she feels the stares of two pairs of eyes on the back of her head.

"Bobby, Matthew, what do you want?"

"Annabeth, can we get food?" says Matthew.

"No."

"Please."

"No."

"Please."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because mom's making food and she's already mad at me so no."

"That's not fair!" Bobby exclaims.

"Life isn't fair, kid." That shut them up for the rest of the drive back home, allowing her to relax and enjoy the cadences of the music coming through the speakers.

When they arrive home, her brothers run to the kitchen to tell Athena about the scrimmage that day. Meanwhile, Annabeth heads upstairs pretending to study and takes a nap instead.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N- I play guitar so yeah, in case you were wondering about my previous knowledge of this stuff. I forgot to mention that there's going to be a crapload of swearing, innuendos, and that the characters turned out more OOC then I originally planned. Thanks for the reviews, favorites, and follows, you guys are great!_

Chapter Two

"Shit, what kind of motherfucking asswipe takes _two_ parking spaces?" Percy grits his teeth and quickly scrounges for another parking space.

Percy's day started as well, shit. He woke up late, tripped and hit his head against the door, and he couldn't find the blue food coloring; meaning he could not eat his goddamn toast in peace. He trudged towards the school, avoiding the lost groups of freshmen, and trying not to roll his eyes at the stoners.

_At least it's my senior year, couple months left and I'm off. _

The day passed by slowly and he couldn't wait to just sit in the guitar center and blare some Simple Plan while letting the remnants of his anger out. As the school bell let out, he saw a flash of golden hair and turned towards the infamous Annabeth Chase.

_Ah, Annabeth Chase. I wonder why she didn't want anybody to know she was there. It's none of my business, maybe she's just weird._

He saw her turn and glance at him. He turned away, walked to his car, and began driving to his job. Once there, he turned on "Crazy" and relaxed on his stool. After a couple of more songs, he heard the bells twinkle and he sat up, eyes alert.

_What the fuck? What the hell does she want?_

There, standing in all of her glory, was Annabeth. She looked at him and, then as if she gained the nerve, approached him.

"Hi Percy, can you help me?"

He swore under his breath. _Of course. _"Yeah, that's my job, what do you need?"

"Uh, my D string won't stay in tune."

He glanced at the guitar and turned the peg. He proceeded to grab the guitar from her hands and play a couple chords. He turned towards her, eyebrow raised. She blushed and muttered about how she did that and how she looked stupid now.

He chuckled. "Is that all you need, Annabeth?"

"Uh yeah, thanks. Wait, what's the name of this song?" She looked up at the speaker, frowning as if miffed that she _liked_ the song.

"Get Down On Your Knees and Tell Me You Love Me," he answered, bored out of his mind.

"_Excuse me_? _What the fuck?_" she glared at him.

He stared at her. "…That's the name of the song. Isn't that what you wanted to know?"

"Oh, right. I'm sorry," Annabeth rubbed her eyes. Percy was really confused about this girl and immediately confirmed his previous thoughts that she was weird. She was supposed to be smart but apparently couldn't decipher anything he said.

"So Annabeth, what kind of music do you like?" _I bet she bought the guitar to play Hey There Delilah. _He snickered at the thought.

"I like all kinds of songs. I mostly like pop songs and Taylor Swift and stuff-" _I fucking knew it. "_But I also really like stuff like Arctic Monkeys, thanks to my friend Thalia who blasts that stuff _all_ the time."

He stared at her. _Arctic Monkeys? She knew who that was? Well, I guess I shouldn't abide by stereotypes. _

"Oh yeah? I really like the whole AM album, what about you, what's your favorite song?"

"I like it, I suppose. My favorite song would probably be Fluorescent Adolescent." she mused.

_Immaculate Annabeth Chase's favorite song is a sex song? Alright, then. _

He gestured lazily to his docked phone. "Would you care to pick a song then?"

"Oh, I should get going." she sounded flustered.

"Cool. See you later."

She thanked him profusely for helping her with her guitar and turned towards the door. As she was walking out, she turned and waved, mouthing goodbye to him.

He shook his head, wondering what the hell was up with the grey-eyed genius. He turned on his phone, checked his notifications, and scrolled, looking for a certain sex song concerning fishnets and sex tips.

When Percy returned home later that evening, he opened the door to find his mom, Sally, talking animatedly on the phone. She glanced up and with her eyes shining, gestured for him to sit in the kitchen. As she was talking, Percy couldn't help but feel a surge of affection for his mom. Ever since he was a kid, she and music were the only constant things in his life, but you couldn't exactly give music a warm embrace. She got off the phone and turned to him.

"Percy."

"Yes, mommy?"

"I just got a call from Paul."

"Don't you always get calls from Paul? That's what I'd expect from your husband, you know." She chuckled and shook her head.

"Seriously Perseus, he got a call from Grover and Grover is coming to Manhattan in a few days."

Percy perked up with interest, suddenly attentive. Grover was a nature freak, book geek, enchilada addict, and Percy's favorite person, aside from his mother.

"Mom, is he staying with us?" She nodded her head, smiling. He laughed, his mood brightening tenfold.

"It gets better."

"How could this get better?"

"Percy, I also made tacos."

Grinning like a fool, he said, "Blue tacos?"

"Of course. What kind of mother do you think I am?"

They ate the tacos in the kitchen, Percy on the counter and Sally standing up. At one point during dinner Sally laughed.

Percy looked up at her, "What is it?"

"You should probably wipe your mouth, there's stuff everywhere and it's gross."

He wiped his mouth and stuffed it with more food, then proceeded to attempt to talk to his mom.

She scowled at him. "Percy. Swallow, please."

"Funny, usually I'm the one saying that," he said, grinning cheekily.

The meaning of his words caught on quickly and Sally narrowed her eyes at him and whacked him on the arm. Percy couldn't help the happiness that bubbled up inside him, he lived for moments like this- when everything was perfect, simple, and carefree.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N- Hey guys. I tried to make it not too outlandish but also not too boring, I know what it's like to have your parents divorce. I hope you like it. Also, I'm a strong believer in 3D characters. So, there isn't going to be interaction_ only_ between Percy and Annabeth. In the following chapters, you'll see their relationships with their loved ones and their perspectives on the world. (There'll still be mentions of the other protagonist, don't worry). Don't be afraid to ask questions or anything, lol. _

Chapter 3

A few weeks later, Annabeth found herself on the edge of paranoia. Similar to most teens, achieving grades lower than the parents' standard is cause for panic and stress. Annabeth had achieved a C, a fucking 79 on her last Statistics test. She couldn't wait to just go home and get Athena's lecture over with. When the bell rang, she leisurely took her time getting to her car. On her way out, someone ran headlong into her, causing her to stumble and drop all her stuff.

_Why the fuck can't people watch where they're going? Are you shitting me, what kind of fucktard runs when the bell rang clearly 5 minutes ago. _

She scowled and turned around, prepared to release all her pent up frustration on the perpetrator. What she did not expect to see was a scrawny kid with a lot of acne on the floor looking at her like she was his worst nightmare.

Her anger forgotten, she reached down to help the kid out and decided to be nice. _It's probably a new kid or a freshman. _He grabbed her outstretched hand, hoisted himself up, and thanked her.

She studied him, "What's your name?"

He blinked, startled that she didn't walk away. "Um, Grover Underwood."

She nodded, "Cool, I'm Annabeth Chase. Are you new?"

He blushed at the forwardness of the question. In the past couple weeks he's been here, no one has yet to acknowledge his presence, let alone _talk_ to him. "I guess…I've only been here for a couple of weeks."

"Oh, do you know anybody here?"

"Well, only one person. My friend, Percy Jackson."

Annabeth stared at him. Percy Jackson was his _friend_? Percy was known throughout school as a jackass that cared about nobody but himself. Jackson didn't seem like the kind to befriend guys like this kid. Percy was very _not _social, it seemed. He talked to only a handful of people, sat by himself, and preferred to be alone. He barely talked to her in the guitar store and he was the one _selling_ her the guitar.

He chuckled nervously, "So I guess you've heard of him?"

Annabeth laughed, "Uh yeah. Well, I got to get going. But it was nice meeting you and I guess you know two people now." She smirked.

He genuinely smiled. "Yeah, I guess so. Goodbye, Annabeth."

Annabeth headed home and entered her makeshift hellhole called home. She entered the kitchen, prepared to defend her grades due to lack of sleep and too much stress. Her mother just looked at her and asked her to sit down.

She skeptically eyed her mother. "What is it?"

Athena looked at her warily, stress clearly shown in her features. "Your father and I are getting a divorce."

_Way to rip the bandage off. _

Annabeth stood up, this was expected but it didn't make it sting any less. She felt tears form in the corners of her eyes and abruptly ran to her room, ignoring the calls of her mother to wait. She grabbed her new Taylor, grabbed her pick, and started palming. Since she got it, she had yet to play it as often as she liked. With her mother bearing down expectations, grades, and the attempts to get her father to acknowledge her instead of the other way around, she didn't have the time or energy to be as enthusiastic as she hoped in the beginning.

What a lot of Annabeth's friends didn't know about her was that she loved guitars, especially this 4,000 dollar Taylor, and she liked singing. Music was her release from all the stressful things in life and Annabeth was adamant on keeping that small piece of information for herself, hence asking Percy not to tell anybody she was there. She supposed that her reasoning was very stupid, but with all the shit going on in her life, she couldn't find it in herself to care.

Annabeth spent the next two hours playing cover after cover, playing around, and just ended up staring at her ceiling, determined not to cry. _Of course, _she didn't want to be the melodramatic teenager with family issues. Rationally, she knew that she would be just fine and that she wouldn't _die_, but of course, the human mind was never rational and she just _couldn't stop _feeling like everything she knew and believed in was falling apart.

A couple hours later, after she pulled herself together, Annabeth decided to stop acting like a bratty teenager and face the aftermath of the damage. She wiped her eyes, let's be honest a couple of tears did fall, and headed downstairs.

She peeked her head around the banister and saw her brothers with confused gazes. She cautiously approached them.

"Did Mom or Dad tell you what's happening?"

Their nods were barely indiscernible and she felt her heart break. She ran to them and they just stared at her, their eyes begging for her to _fix_ this. She felt helpless under their weighted gaze. What the _fuck_ was she supposed to do? She couldn't tell them that everything was fucking dandy when it wasn't. In the end, she decided to get them away from the hellhole and took them to their favorite ice cream parlor.

"Annabeth," Bobby said, once they had their ice cream and were sitting around a table.

She looked up, "Yes?"

"What's going to happen?"

"What do you mean? You know the process."

"I know, I meant what's going to happen to me, you, and Matthew?"

_Fuck. Custody battles were a bitch and of course our goddamned parents had to get divorced right now. _

"Well, I know I'll try my damn hardest to make sure we're staying together, alright? I'm not leaving you guys behind, no matter how much you annoy me." Sadly, that was the best she could say. She knew that if her parents separated her brothers and herself that she essentially broke their trust, but she couldn't say that she for sure knew they were staying together.

That earned a smile from the both of them. Bobby and Matthew knew that was the closest thing to affection they were going to get from their sister.

"Alright, now enough sad things. How's school?"

"Fine." _Okay, what was she supposed to say now?_

They sat in silence, enjoying their ice cream until Matthew said, "Annabeth, what do you do when you're sad?"

She thought about lying and then realized that was preposterous, they were her brothers.

"Well, I play the guitar."

Matthew arched an eyebrow. "Really, Annabeth? Are you sure?"

She felt strangely offended, "Uh yeah, Matthew. I have two guitars and I play when you aren't home. The only one who knows is Mom."

Bobby looked at her, "Not even Thalia?"

"No, not even Thalia. She'd probably yell at me for not telling her and then demand I play Blink 182 or something like that with her." They chuckled, knowing the truth of that statement.

Thalia Grace was the epitome of Wednesday Addams with a punk-rock streak. Blue eyes, a dab of freckles, and always sporting a band tee. Contrary to her appearance and hard exterior, Thalia was a cool, understanding person who never seemed to judge or question the choices Annabeth made. They were a weird pair but it worked.

"Annabeth, will you teach me how to play guitar?" Bobby asked.

"Me too! As long as you don't teach us stupid crap like what you listen to," chimed in Matthew, eyes sparkling.

"My music is _not_ stupid!" Annabeth cried, indignant.

Bobby and Matthew rolled their eyes and eyed her distastefully.

"Fine! Let's go to the guitar store," Annabeth grumbled.

Bobby, ever the responsible twin said, "But Annabeth, do you have enough money to buy us both guitars?"

"Mom and Dad are getting divorced. I think they owe us."

Annabeth cursed. _Just when they were getting along, she had to ruin it. _

Bobby and Matthew didn't seem fazed though and just shrugged, running to her car.

_Alright then. _


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Percy was hunched over, squinting at the laptop. He had yet to receive the new orders of Gibson 335s and was trying to read the UPS order.

"Grover, get over here."

Percy heard a clattering noise and then running. He glanced up to see Grover in front of him, red faced, and panicked.

"What's wrong?"

"Grover. What was that noise? Hell man, did you breaksomething? You know you can't afford to, considering you already owe money for breaking like two sets of strings and a Luna."

He glared at Percy. "_No_, I heard you yelling for me and you made me hit a bin containing sets of picks. Thanks for the confidence, Percy."

Percy smirked, "Of course. Always. You can always count on me to acknowledge your fuck ups, like a good friend. The best, in fact."

"_Anyways, _what did you need?"

"Oh, did you want to order some pizza? We're going to be here for a while."

Grover glared balefully at him. "_That's_ what you called me for? Man, Perce you suck."

Percy grinned at him, "Go order, please." Grover stalked back to the storage room, cell phone in hand, no doubt cursing Percy.

Percy spent the next 30 minutes drumming his fingers against the counter waiting for the pizza. This place usually had a lot of life, but not now, not at 5 o'clock when everyone was eating dinner or watching tv. Unfortunately, the shop closed at 8:30 today so they were stuck for a couple of hours. He heard a chime come from the front of the store and relieved, ran with the money to the front. He grabbed the pizza, paid the poor teenager, and called for Grover.

Grover came running back, gasping. "What now?"

"Nothing, pizza's here."

"Oh, good. I thought this was another false alarm."

They ate in silence for a while, occasionally getting up to change the song blasting from the speakers. Percy decided he would start the conversation, _as usual._

"So Grover, how do you like school?"

Grover shrugged. "I mean, it's okay. Everyone there is rude, annoyingly stupid, doesn't recycle, and oblivious to the world… but so are all schools."

"Have you made any friends, G-man?"

"Other than you? Of course not. The only person who seems remotely interesting besides you would be this girl I met named Annabeth."

Percy raised an eyebrow, "Oh, you met Annabeth? How'd you meet her?"

He rubbed the back of his neck, face bright red. "Oh, um, I accidentally ran into her and knocked all her stuff out. I thought she was going to _murder_ me. If looks could kill, I'd have been dead in a second."

Percy let out a bark of laughter. If there was any way Grover was going to attract attention it'd be through something as stupid as _running into _someone.

Grover eyed him, "How did _you_ meet Annabeth?"

"Simple. She bought a guitar. Not just any kind, man she bought the Taylor 810ce."

Grover widened his eyes, almost spitting out his drink. "How the hell did she afford that?"

Percy shrugged, "I guess she's loaded. Doesn't matter, what really has me interested is that she knew her shit. She didn't stumble around, confused, like a first time buyer and then after she bought it, she asked me not to tell anybody she was here. That girl's weird."

Grover frowned. "I think she's nice. After I ran into her, she talked to me and then a couple days later, talked to me in class and helped me."

Percy shrugged, "I guess."

Grover reached the last slice and shoved it in his mouth.

"Hey Percy, where's your Entourage? I want to play. I haven't played in a long time," Grover mumbled through his mouth full of food.

Percy's black Seagull Entourage was his most prized possession. Even though it wasn't as expensive as other guitars, he loved it. He hardly let anyone look at it, let alone _touch _or _play_ it, but Grover was his best friend and knew how to handle a guitar.

Percy got up and walked into the employee's room and grabbed it from the case. He looked at it fondly, tuned it, and brought out the capo just in case. He gave his baby, affectionately named _Riptide_, and gave it to Grover.

"Grover, if you damage _Riptide _in any way, I will make sure you have more than a simple tab on your hands."

"_Riptide?_ I thought we agreed it was _Aleksander!_" Grover exclaimed.

Grover was there when Percy first picked out his baby, and at the time he was corresponding with a fellow recycling friend of his that lived in Texas named Aleksander.

Percy rolled his eyes, "I'm not naming my guitar after a guy I don't even _know_."

Grover huffed, "Whatever, your loss."

Grover put the strap around his body and put the capo on the headstock of the acoustic-electric, just in case he decided to play with it later.

Grover tested out a few chords, then suddenly turned to Percy, smiling. "Hey Perce, do you remember this?"

As he played the opening, Percy's eyes lit up with remembrance. The first time Percy had his heart broken, he and Grover were messing around on guitars when Grover told him he would make him feel better. Grover took Percy's computer and started singing Hillary Duff. Despite Grover's terrible singing, he had managed to cheer Percy up and simultaneously crawl his way up Percy's list of "Favorite People".

Percy guffawed at Grover's slightly-better-but-not-particularly voice. As they messed around, Percy grabbed another guitar and started playing one of his favorite songs, "Somebody That I Used To Know" the Mayday Parade version, of course. As he finished the song with one last strum, he heard clapping. His head darted up and he saw Annabeth with two little boys next to her staring at him with something close to hero worship.

"Well, that was unexpected," Annabeth said, smirking.

In the midst of their messing around, he didn't hear the chime above the door ring and all he could think was how glad it was that he wasn't playing "Fuck You" or something of that manner.

"You're really good, can you teach me?" the one with the glasses asked.

"No, you need to actually teach me, I bet you're better than Annabeth," the other one said.

Percy choked on his laughter, and glanced up, catching Annabeth's glare.

Percy shrugged and hoped his expression screamed "Hey, they're the ones that asked, _not me."_

"Bobby, Matthew, _shut up. _You've never even seen me play!"

"We don't have to," they said simultaneously.

Annabeth scoffed and turned to Grover who just sat awkwardly, watching the scene unfold.

"Hi Grover. Anyways, we're buying guitars, for my brothers."

Percy and Grover watched Annabeth's brothers run around and _almost_ break a new Ibanez. The three glanced at each other and knew that it would be a long night.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

30 minutes later and several attempts to get the boys to look for guitars that wouldn't break Annabeth's bank, they came up with several options. Bobby wanted to get the Fender CD-60CE and Matthew wanted to get the LXME Little Martin. Unfortunately, the boys wanted to get the same guitar saying it was "easier". After another 45 minutes spent arguing, the boys refused to speak to each other, settling for sitting in stools and glaring.

Annabeth crossed her arms in annoyance, "Guys, just get different guitars. It really doesn't matter that much since you guys are just starting."

Bobby and Matthew turned their glares to their sister.

"Stay out of it, Annabeth," Matthew snapped.

Annabeth wanted to slap them upside the head for being so damn difficult.

Percy spoke up, "Yeah, I mean, Grover and I don't have the same model or company and we still play together."

"Yeah, Percy has a Seagull and I have an Ovation. Really, you guys will be fine… and I want to go home." Grover added, mumbling the last part.

Matthew perked up hearing Percy speak, "You think so, Percy?"

Annabeth threw her hands up and swore under her breath. _Are you kidding me? Why didn't Percy speak up earlier- he could've saved us an hour._

Percy smirked at Annabeth's visible frustration that her brother listened to _him_ and not _her_.

"Yeah, Matthew, I'm sure. What about you Bobby, cool?"

Bobby looked up, his intense glaring gone, "I guess."

Annabeth feeling relieved, grabbed the guitars, and practically ushered Percy to hurry up, wanting to get out before her brothers could change their minds. As Percy put the instruments in their respective cases, Annabeth picked a song from his phone. She turned on some Hedley and filled out the forms. Suddenly, they heard the sound of a high E string being plucked, and Percy snapped his head towards the noise. There, standing there was Bobby plucking _Riptide_.

Percy rushed towards the boy and he was sure his face was a mask of rage. Bobby, intimidated, took a step back and wondered what he did wrong. Trying to calm himself, he approached Bobby again, desperate not to have him cry. Heaven knows, Percy had no idea what to do with crying 12 year olds.

"Look Bobby, this is my guitar, okay? You're old enough to know not to touch stuff that belongs to other people, especially musical instruments." He winced at how patronizing and kind of rude he sounded but Bobby needed to _understand_.

"Okay, Percy."

Annabeth took the whole scene in, amazed at Percy's ability to not be an ass. She knew that if someone had went and touched her guitars, she would probably murder them on the spot, no matter who it was. She softened, her perception of the ocean-eyed boy changed. All through school, people mislabeled him as a stupid, rude dick. She didn't know if he was stupid or not, but he was obviously _not_ a rude dick if he could stand Grover's clumsy self and her brothers.

She turned to Grover, "He really isn't what people at school say, is he?"

Grover shook his head, "Of course not."

She saw Percy wave Matthew over. "Guys, my guitar is my baby. I love him a lot, but I'll let you guys play _Riptide_ for the time being, if Annabeth watches."

Matthew stared at him, "You named your guitar, _Riptide_?"

Percy nodded, grinning like a kid in a candy store. "Who doesn't name their instruments? I bet Annabeth's has a name. You know Grover's guitar's name is-" Grover cut in, "Percy if you finish that sentence I will shave your eyebrows in your sleep."

Annabeth turned back to the forms, using her hair as a curtain to hide the grin from appearing on her face.

She could hear the four of them laughing loudly. "Point is, you can play him if you like. I have to go sign the forms Annabeth just filled out. I'll be right back."

Annabeth felt footsteps and tapping on her shoulder. She turned around and Percy raised an eyebrow, pointing back at her brothers who were holding _Riptide_. She walked over and sat in the stool in front of them. She had to stifle her laughter from the boys trying to hold it, it was bad enough they were first time players but _Riptide _was a dreadnought, a larger size. Her brothers looked practically tiny, in comparison.

Matthew huffed and handed Percy's baby to Annabeth, who gingerly placed it on her knee.

"I can't do this, here Annabeth."

"Annabeth, play something," demanded Bobby.

_Dang, okay. _

She filed through her memories, trying to find something she really liked, but was also "cool" to her brothers.

She decided to play it safe with "All About You" by McFly. Her brothers might not know the band, but she's played the song plenty of times in the car for them to recognize it.

Partially through the song, she turned to see Percy and Grover watching her from the counter. She blushed and continued on. She heard footsteps, and without looking up heard a voice join hers, in singing. She glanced up from the chord progression and saw Percy sitting next to her, watching her with a look she couldn't decipher.

When the song was over, she saw Grover clap and Bobby and Matthew stare at her with a newfound respect in their eyes. She couldn't help but feel pleased.

_At least now they'll shut up about me not being able to play. _

She turned to Percy, "You know McFly?"

He nodded, "Yeah, they and Bob Marley are the only things my mom and I agree on."

"Oh, your mom sounds cool."

"She's the coolest person in the Jackson family," chimed in Grover. Percy shrugged, as if resigned that the fact was true.

"Okay boys, let's go home."

Nobody moved and Annabeth huffed.

_Ugh. Are you serious? It's like 8. I just want to go home and finish the homework I neglected to do._

"Okay, what do you want? You guys got your guitars, ice cream, and I have homework to do."

Matthew smiled, "True, but can you play with Percy? We'll watch with Grover."

Bobby viciously nodded, "Yeah! Annabeth, please?"

She turned to Percy, pleading with her eyes for him to help her. He only shrugged and grabbed _Riptide_ from her, gesturing for her to pick another guitar.

_Isn't this kind of stuff only supposed to happen in the movies or romance novels?_

Groaning, she grabbed another guitar and glared at the woodwork. Spruce, not mahogany, her preferred choice.

"What do you want to play?"

Percy shrugged, just infuriating Annabeth more. She had an idea, turning to Percy she asked, "Hey, you like Hedley right?"

He nodded.

"Okay, what about 'Anything' by Hedley?" He shrugged again.

Annabeth took that as a yes. She didn't want to further push her horror by singing a _love song _with him.

Grover grabbed the laptop, typed in the song for the tabs and turned the screen towards Percy and Annabeth. At least it didn't require a capo.

They agreed on a strum pattern and played. At first it was kind of awkward, but they got the hang of it by the chorus. Once the bridge hit, they were quite comfortable and Annabeth found herself surprisingly enjoying it.

His voice was mellow, a little raspy, and he didn't strain to hit the notes. Annabeth didn't know how her voice would rate, but they seemed to harmonize pretty well.

Once they finished, she heard the sounds of clapping and smiled. Annabeth got up from the stool and put the guitar away. Grabbing her brothers, they allowed her to push them towards the entrance of the store. They waved goodbye to Percy and Grover promising to make Annabeth let them visit them.

Once they were out the door and into the car, she turned to the boys.

"I can't believe you did that."

"Why?" asked Matthew.

"Because now he thinks I'm weirder than the first time I met him, ugh."

Bobby eyed her and raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure you just don't like him?"

"No!"

Matthew scoffed, "Okay, Annabeth."

Annabeth shut her mouth, glared at them and drove home, listening to them talk about how awesome Percy was and how they were going to start recycling, thanks to Grover.

Once home, she found the office light on, signaling that her dad was working, and her mom nowhere to be found. She took the boys' guitars to her room and set them down next to her old Ibanez.

She did her homework, nightly preparations, and then fell asleep letting her thoughts drift to the unknown.


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N- Sorry for the late updates and they'll probably get worse, if I'm honest. I've been busy with a lot of stuff and it's only going to get worse. _

Chapter Six

Once the Chase siblings were out the door, Percy cracked his neck and turned to Grover.

"You ready to go home?"

Grover grinned, "I've been waiting to go home since we got here."

They locked up and headed to Percy's car. Once settled they turned the radio on and a comfortable silence ensued, until Grover decided to break it.

"So, you and Annabeth, huh?" Grover drawled.

"Grover, shut the fuck up."

He just smirked and leaned his head against the window, falling asleep.

Extreme exhaustion creeped onto the pair as they stepped into the Jackson household.

Percy had hoped that they didn't make any more noise than necessary but true to his rotten luck, as he stepped in, he banged his elbow against the wall erupting noise. He saw a light turn on and his step father, Paul, step out onto the doorway. He leaned against the wall, squinting at the two of them.

Paul Blofis was the coolest thing to a father figure Percy had. His dad deserted him when he was born and his first step father, Gabe, put them into massive amounts of debt, making them live in a dinge of an apartment. After his mother finally had the nerve to kick him out, Percy's life began changing for the better. He got better grades, moved into a new apartment, and his mom was happy. Paul was nothing like Gabe, for one he let them keep the Jackson last name. He was sober, a teacher, and genuinely loved him and his mom. Percy was eternally grateful for the nerdy, salt and pepper haired man in front of him.

"Did you guys just get home?" Paul asked.

Percy just grunted in affirmation and headed upstairs, with Grover in tow.

Once there, Grover headed to his room mumbling a good night to Percy.

Percy wearily eyed his homework, brushed his teeth, and went to bed. Sleep was far more important than homework.

* * *

A couple days later, Percy was standing at his locker, putting his books up when he heard a clattering noise next to him. Deciding that he really didn't care, he closed his locker and walked away, keys in hand. He felt a hand on his shoulder and stiffened. He turned around and saw Annabeth there, glancing around as if she didn't want anyone to see her, heavens forbid, _talking _to him.

He leaned against the nearest locker, "Hello, and to what do I owe this pleasure?"

She wrinkled her brows at him and copied his movements, "Oh, Bobby and Matthew said hi."

He raised an eyebrow, "That's it? I guess you can tell them I said hi."

"Alright. Also, is it okay if we come visit the shop today? Um, they want to visit you and Grover. Badly. They won't shut up about you and it's annoying."

He smirked, "Won't shut up, eh? It's only annoying because they like me more than you."

She rolled her eyes, "Ugh, you're so cocky. I can feel it infecting me."

He smiled, "You know I'm kidding. Anyway, I can't really _stop_ you from coming, can I? I'm just a lowly store employee."

She raised her hands in surrender. "Alright. Just warning you. Prepare for an onslaught of questions and looks of hero worship."

A tiny smile flitted across Percy's face, "I don't mind."

She glanced around again and Percy felt a twinge of annoyance.

_Did she really care that much?_

"Afraid your friends will see you talking to me?" he said coldly.

She shook her head, "Of course not. I don't care what they think."

"Really? Are you sure? This whole conversation, you've been glancing around watching for people." He didn't mean for it to slip out, it just did.

Annabeth reached out and Percy stepped back.

"Whatever. I'll see you later."

He walked towards his car feeling like a child for having such a petty argument. He really shouldn't care if she cared that people saw them talking. They were hardly friends. It hurt though. All his life, he'd been that person that got the weird looks in school. There was nothing he could do, though. Maybe his demeanor screamed _inadequate_, because really that's what he was. He was _inadequate _at fitting in, _inadequate_ in school, _inadequate _at being _loved_ by his own fucking father.

Percy scoffed. _And of course, I'm the kid with daddy issues. _

He parked into his parking spot.

_I probably have to apologize to Annabeth. I shouldn't have cared in the first place, maybe I'm getting sensitive. _

He walked to the store, noting that Zoe, the employee with the shift before him, had already clocked out for the day.

Grover had his own reasons for not being there with Percy. His girlfriend Juniper, was in town for the day and Grover had to take advantage of that. Which was fine with Percy, he didn't have a monopoly on him. The only problem was that he had to face Annabeth now, after lashing out at her because _he_ had issues.

_Whatever. _

He diligently did his job, explained to the clueless moms that _no, you can't reason with me on the price_, chased away the little kids trying to reach for everything, and helped the first time buyers from freaking out because they didn't know the difference in guitar sizes.

As he was helping a pair of siblings named Nico and Bianca pick some Lanikai ukuleles, he heard the screams of,

"Percy!"

"Hey Percy, what's up?"

He turned to the twins, gestured at them to wait a minute, and explained the usual to the siblings. After they left, he cocked his head to the counter and watched the boys sit on the stools. He watched Bobby grab his phone and pick whatever song looked coolest to him, Matthew put his head on the counter feigning fatigue, and saw Annabeth look out of place.

Percy walked up to Annabeth and opened his mouth, apology in tow.

"I'm sorry for overreacting."

She widened her eyes in shock and shook her head.

"No Percy, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be embarrassed to be friends with you. I wasn't really even embarrassed, it's just new territory. We don't really talk outside of school." She had nervousness etched into her features.

He smiled at her, "I guess, I mean it's whatever."

She scowled at him. He said that to her as a response, nearly every time she asked him something, when they were talking. Her irritation for the phrase just caused him to say it more frequently, just to get on the blonde girl's nerves.

After an hour or two of Percy and the Chase siblings hanging out, Annabeth decided they should head home.

Matthew turned to him yelling, "Hey Percy, you should come over and hang out with us _not _Annabeth."

Annabeth, looking absolutely horrified, pushed her brother into the door, mumbling apologies at Percy's smirking face.

He turned to Matthew, "Sure."

Before he could lose his courage he turned to Annabeth, "Can I have your number?"

_I mean we've known each other for months and aren't we friends?_

She held a solemn expression and wrote it down on a piece of paper.

"I'll see you later Percy." She pushed her brothers out the door and smiled at him.

He smiled back and waved goodbye.

The rest of his shift was spent doing the normal, mundane things that came with working in a guitar shop. When he arrived home, he relaxed on the couch, his previous thoughts of his biological father forgotten.


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N- It's getting so much harder to write. I struggled so much just to write this chapter. _

Chapter 7

Annabeth couldn't believe the amount of tension and passive aggressiveness in the house. Whenever her mom was in the room, her dad was in another room. They had civil conversations, sure, but they were meaningless and packed full of frustration, in her mom's case, and resignation in her dad's case.

She needed to leave or at least diffuse the tension. She scrolled through her phone and dialed a number.

"Hey, do you want to come over?"

"Alright, I'll be there in 10 minutes."

"Cool."

Annabeth hung up the phone and waited patiently on the couch, eyes roving around the room. She was near sleeping when she heard the doorbell ring and leapt off the couch, hurrying to open the door.

The door opened to reveal a grinning Thalia Grace.

Annabeth grinned and hugged the punk girl. Thalia, being Thalia, wasn't exactly a hug kind of person so the scene ended up looking like a clinging Annabeth and awkward back pats from Thalia, pleading for her to get off now. When Annabeth finally released Thalia from her death grip of an embrace, she gestured for her to sit down.

"Do you want anything?"

"Some water would be okay, thanks."

Annabeth scurried to get the refreshment for Thals and hurriedly placed it on the table in front of her.

"So, what'd you call me over for?"

"Couldn't I have just called so we could catch up? I mean, I haven't seen you in a couple of months ever since you went to go visit your mom in California."

"No. Otherwise we would be doing something… instead of sitting here in your too quiet house."

"Okay, the truth is, my parents are getting a divorce and it's been really difficult. There's too much tension in the house and I don't have anywhere to go, besides the bookstore, but I don't really feel like going right now. So, the best way to diffuse the tension would be to have another person here and I haven't seen you in a long time so it's a win-win situation." Annabeth grinned, proud of her long speech.

Thalia stared for a couple of seconds, then shrugged. "Alright, so what's been going on, besides your parents' divorce?"

"Nothing much. Waiting to graduate, avoiding everyone I don't like, the usual."

Thalia raised an eyebrow, "Okay. So, no boys? Nothing?"

Annabeth's thoughts immediately flashed to Percy but she shook her head.

Thalia smiled and her eyes gleamed, "Are you sure?"

Annabeth nodded vigorously, "Yes, I'm sure."

"Alright."

"Alright."

"Annabeth."

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to hear this song? I keep forgetting to show it to you. It's by this band called Fall Out Boy…"

Annabeth groaned and threw her head back on the couch, "Do I have to?" she mumbled.

"Of course you do, now go plug in my phone. It's called 'Save Rock and Roll'."

Annabeth started scrolling through the phone, "It has Elton John?"

Thalia beamed, "Uh huh. I knew that'd catch your attention."

By the end of the song, Annabeth was already looking them up, looking for more songs while Thalia had a smug grin on her face. Annabeth looked over at Thalia, mouth open to tell her to shut up because she knew that Annabeth would like the song, when her brothers came bounding down the stairs.

"Annabeth, teach us guitar. Now. You promised!" Matthew screeched.

Bobby slapped his arm, and turned towards Annabeth apologetically, "He meant to add in a 'please'."

Matthew rolled his eyes, "No, I didn't."

Thalia glanced up from the couch and turned to Annabeth.

"Chase, what are they talking about?"

"Um, nothing."

Thalia narrowed her eyes, "Didn't they _just_ ask you to teach them how to play guitar?"

"…No. Well, maybe."

Thalia stared at her, "Annabeth. Why didn't you tell me? That's awesome! I can't believe you hid this from me." Her face promptly broke out into a childlike grin.

After the momentary shock, she shrugged and decided to tell the truth. "I wanted to keep something for myself. This was the only thing that nobody knew about me, until now." She glared pointedly at her brothers who cowered away.

Thalia coughed, "Alright. So um, did you learn any Green Day songs?"

Annabeth smiled sheepishly, "Um, no."

"Matthew, grab me a guitar and get Annabeth's too!" Thalia hollered.

He saluted the punk girl and scurried to Annabeth's room and grabbed the old Ibanez and the new Taylor, running faster as to not anger Thals even more.

He gingerly placed the instruments on the couch as he and Bobby sat on the seat across from them, eager to listen and judge.

Thalia took the Ibanez, mouthing "not bad" to Annabeth. Annabeth beamed, having the other girl's approval.

She winked at Annabeth then played the opening to a song Annabeth knew very well.

"No way, Thalia." Annabeth shook her head.

Thalia just nodded her head, her eyes telling her to lighten up and just relax.

Bobby and Matthew screamed in approval when they heard the beginning chords to "The Ballad of Mona Lisa." Panic! At The Disco was one of Thalia's favorite bands and when they first became friends, it was their first concert she took them to.

Annabeth remembered the months leading up to the concert perfectly.

_She and Thalia were lying on the couch, watching mindless reality television neither of them cared to watch, and talking about the dumbest things in life. She remembered the blue-eyed girl laying across from her, asking her if she liked her taste in music and getting horribly offended when the blonde-haired girl replied with, "I don't like screamo, so no." Thalia sat up and turned the tv off, a devilish grin on her face. _

"_You want to hear what real heavy metal/screamo sounds like? Alright." She proceeded to blast some horrendous crap that Annabeth had shut down after thirty seconds. Her ears could not take it, she didn't like it, and it was not at all what she thought Thalia listened to. _

_Thalia was smug. "There are different types of Punk and other genres okay. There's Punk Rock, Pop Punk, Heavy Metal, and others okay? Don't put them all in one category, otherwise you will offend many people, including myself. Also, always respect what other people listen to, even if you don't like it, don't bash on what others like. It's just a dick move and completely unnecessary." _

_Annabeth nodded, her ears still hurting. _

_Thalia snapped her fingers, her eyes starting to glow. "I have an idea. Let's book some tickets to one of my favorite bands, Panic! At The Disco. That way you can be exposed to other stuff and appreciate the variety of people." Without waiting for an answer from the other girl, she grabbed her laptop and booked tickets for herself, and the Chase siblings. _

_Without looking up from the screen she added, "Oh and we can bring your brothers. They'll have loads of fun."_

_Annabeth still looked hesitant, "Are you sure this is a good idea, Thals?"_

_Thalia waved her hand, "Of course I'm sure. We're going to have lots of fun, promise."_

Thalia was right. That night was one of the most exhilarating nights of her life and since that day her brothers swore up and down that Thalia was "the most amazing person to exist on the planet" and that "her stuff was better" than Annabeth's. She focused on the girl and the boys singing, adamant to remember it. After a while, she belted the song with them, collapsing into a fit of laughter after it was over.

Thalia wolfishly smiled, "See, that wasn't so bad? Now, it's your turn."

Bobby and Matthew joined in on the predatory glints, and Annabeth was sure they were about to start chanting. She endured the taunts and baits until she couldn't stand their pestering.

Annabeth broke. "Alright! Just hand me the guitar."

She swore under her breath, promising Thalia retribution.

Copying Thalia's style, she played the song, "That Green Gentleman" by Panic!.

At the very end, Thalia looked impressed and haughtily clapped for the blonde sitting in front of her.

"Wow, that was almost as good as Percy," Matthew smirked, copying Percy's trademark almost exactly.

"Annabeth, who is Percy?" Thalia said slowly.

Annabeth rolled her eyes, knowing that she couldn't keep their friendship secret for long, not that she was trying. "Nobody, just a guy from the guitar store."

Thalia's look turned icy, "Yes, but what does he mean "almost as good"? Did you hear him sing? Did you sing for _him_? Do you like him? I thought you said there were no boys!"

Annabeth scowled, "_No_. Well, not in the way you're thinking. Yeah, he sang but he didn't even know we were there! I sang for him on accident and then the boys wouldn't let me _leave_ until I sang with him. I _don't_ like him and there _are no boys_."

The further she explained, the deeper her blush went.

Matthew rolled his eyes and turned to Thals, "She's lying. She likes him and I think you'd like him, he's really cool."

Thalia leapt off the couch, "Alright, so when do I get to meet him?"

Bobby and Matthew cheered.

"Yeah, let's go see Percy!"

"Yeah, we haven't seen him in forever!"

Annabeth reddened. "You don't-" She spluttered, "Why would you need to? I'm not even sure if he's working right now."

Thalia shrugged, "Well, there's a lot of tension, like you said, and we can leave. Bobby and Matthew want to see him. Frankly, I want to meet him to see if he's good enough for you and if he's not working then it's okay. We can just dick around or go get food."

Annabeth shook her head profusely, "No. No. No. Sorry, not happening."

Thalia smiled innocently, "If you don't like him, then why are you so _against_ me meeting him?"

"Knowing you, you'll embarrass me! As if the boys haven't done it enough!" Annabeth shrieked.

Thalia just walked out the door, already pulling her jacket and shoes on, boys in tow.

"Annabeth, grab your keys. We're leaving now."

_I'm going to fucking kill them. She didn't even drink any of the water I got her. _

Annabeth grabbed her keys, praying to every deity in existence that he wasn't there today.


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N- This was my favorite chapter to write! Btw, I love all the bands listed below. Also, in case you guys were wondering, I play all the instruments that Thalia can play. You guys are great, thanks for the reviews, favorites, follows, etc. _

Chapter 8

Percy toyed with his phone, debating whether to text Annabeth or not.

_I mean we're friends, I think. I've had her number for a couple of days and she's yet to text me. Maybe, I'm supposed to text her first? This is so confusing. Fuck it, I'm just going to text her._

On that note, Percy sent the text message sitting in his drafts. He hummed a little, getting up to change the song on the stereo.

_Today seems like an All Time Low day. _Percy flipped through his phone looking for "For Baltimore" when he heard the sound of boots and saw he got a text from Annabeth.

_Annabeth- Hi Percy. Please tell me you're not working today?_

Without turning around he mumbled, "Hold on a second, please."

_Percy- I am. Why?_

He put his phone down on the back counter and turned around, "How may I help you?"

He saw a black haired girl with blue eyes and freckles look at him with a kind of scornful expression.

_Alright then._

"Are you Percy?"

"Uh, yeah?"

She turned around and yelled, "Hey Chase, get out here."

He furrowed his eyebrows and leaned past the girl to see the blonde girl furiously typing on her phone and her brothers behind her sheepishly waving at him. He stared confusedly for a second before calling out, "Hi Annabeth?"

She looked up and blushed before purposely striding over. He saw Bobby and Matthew settle themselves into the stools set before the counter. They smiled at him and he smiled back.

The blue eyed girl coughed and he turned his attention back to her and Annabeth who was now standing next to her.

She studied him, "Nice eyes."

"Thanks? You too?"

Thalia nodded as if satisfied and turned to Annabeth who looked like she wanted the ground to swallow her whole. He tried to play off the smile on his face, but could tell he wasn't succeeding.

Annabeth refocused her attention on him, "Percy. This is my best friend, Thalia Grace. Thalia, this is my friend Percy Jackson."

He turned towards her and studied her appearance, noticing she had a New Politics shirt on and a pair of jeans with converse.

_For someone who's friends with Annabeth, she has really good taste in music. _

He nodded at her, "So you like New Politics?"

She narrowed her eyes, "Yes."

"I like them too. I went to their concert last year."

She grinned, "Really? Me too. What's your favorite song? It might seem overrated but I _love _Harlem."

"No way! I think it's impossible to hate that song. I love Tonight You're Perfect."

"Are you a mama's boy?"

Percy rolled his eyes, "According to everybody, I am. There's nothing wrong with appreciating your mom. She's always there for me and I don't get why people make fun of other people for that."

"I like you so far," Thalia said, eternally blunt.

"Me too?"

He turned his attention back to Annabeth who was staring at the counter. She looked up, feeling his gaze, and smiled nervously at him.

"So Annabeth, what are you doing here?"

"Bobby and Matthew just wanted to say hi."

"Well, okay."

They stood in a deafening silence that seemed to drag for ages. Finally Thalia broke the silence and asked Percy if she could pick a song seeing that she didn't like the song playing. He told her to go ahead and handed her his phone, a little nervous to see how she would judge his taste. She just smiled approvingly and picked Linkin Park's Castle of Glass.

He hummed along, watching the spot above Annabeth's head.

"So," Percy said, "Do you play an instrument, Thalia?"

She looked away from the Martin she was staring at, "Oh, yeah. I play guitar, ukulele, cello, piano, and harp."

He nodded, "What kind of guitar do you play?"

"I have a Fender and a Yamaha."

"Are you better than Annabeth?"

Annabeth snapped her head back to his eyes and glared.

Thalia snickered, "I don't know, probably. I mean, I've only heard her play _once_. Luckily, it was Panic! At the Disco and not some overplayed pop song."

Annabeth shot daggers at their amused faces and said, "There is nothing wrong with liking pop songs."

Percy raised an eyebrow, "She never said there was. Anyway, you like Panic! At the Disco?"

She huffed and folded her arms, "You know very well that's what she _implied_. And yes, I do. Is that a problem?"

He raised his hands in surrender, "No. From what I've heard you play and listen to, you don't seem to like that kind of music."

"Well, I normally don't. Thalia took me to one of their concerts and I've liked them ever since."

"Cool. Cool. Are you open to listening to new music? I mean, with friends like Thalia, you have to be able to obviously like some of her stuff."

Annabeth opened her mouth to reply but Thalia answered for her, "Of course. Let's see what you got."

He took his phone from Thalia and started scrolling, "Hmm. Okay, All Time Low?"

Thalia answered, "Tried it. Not really."

He stared at her in shock, "_You don't like All Time Low? They are one of the best bands ever."_

Thalia nodded pointedly at Annabeth, "See. I told you."

She groaned, "I've only listened to a couple of their songs and it's very…rock ish? I don't know, not really my style. I like some songs! Don't look at me like that."

He tried to tone down his disbelief and asked,"What songs did you like?"

She took her phone out and looked at what songs she had by them.

"A Daydream Away, Remembering Sunday, and Oh, Calamity!" She said proudly.

Percy nodded, "Okay, you like the acoustic stuff. Um, what about Simple Plan? They are my favorite band ever."

Thalia smiled at Percy, impressed.

"Good job, she likes them. Well, their old stuff."

"I can deal with that. How about The All-American Rejects?"

"Who is that?" She answered.

Thalia and Percy stared at Annabeth. "Are you serious?" They exclaimed.

Thalia directed Annabeth to a stool and told Bobby and Matthew to go sit next to Percy.

Percy turned to them, "Actually Grover's in the back, if you want to go hang out with him."

They fist bumped Percy, "Sweet."

They turned to Annabeth, expressions solemn. "Okay, let's start with the basic songs, Dirty Little Secret, Move Along, all the good stuff."

Thalia nodded in approval, "And then, we'll get to Secondhand Serenade, Boys Like Girls, and Blink 182. Oh, let's not forget to educate her in the oldies."

Percy's eyes lighted up, "You're right! The Who, The Bangles, Guns N' Roses, Nirvana, Ace of Base, alright. What about The Killers?"

"Of course."

Annabeth groaned and covered her face, "Do I have to? Can't we just go home or something?" She mumbled.

Thalia glared, "No. Chase, keep your ass down and prepare to fall in love with new stuff. You'll thank us by the end of this. Trust me."

Percy softened his gaze, "You know what, Thalia? We should also show her Joe Brooks, Lights, and The Summer Set. Maybe 5 Seconds of Summer. I think she'd like that stuff."

Annabeth took her face out of her hands, "Isn't Lights a song?"

Percy shook his head furiously, "No. No. No. Well, yes. But we're not talking about Ellie Goulding right now. Lights is a beautiful human being and you'll love her. I love her so much, she is literally perfect and so hot. You'll love her acoustic stuff."

Thalia whistled, "Wow, you have issues. She's a good artist, but calm down. Who else is perfect? Cassadee Pope?"

Percy shot daggers at her face, "Cassadee is hot too. And hey, don't act like you're above me! You probably have a crush on someone too. Who is it? Brendon Urie? Alex Gaskarth? Brian Dales? Alex DeLeon? Calum Hood?"

She shook her head, "Nope. Sorry, Jack Barakat and David Boyd."

He rolled his eyes and coughed.

_Of course._

He looked at Annabeth who just stared at them, confused.

"Oh right. Annabeth, after The All American Rejects, you can listen to The Cab."

Thalia punched his arm, "Um no, after them, she's listening to The Downtown Fiction."

"No, The Cab."

"No, The Downtown Fiction."

Annabeth just rested her head on the counter, waiting for them to stop bickering. Finally, they stopped and she felt someone tap her on the arm.

"Yes?"

"We mutually agreed on starting with Mayday Parade."

"Great," she muttered.


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N- You guys are seriously fucking awesome, rock on. Don't be afraid to talk to me, especially if we share similar music taste. _

Chapter 9

One hour later, and Annabeth surprisingly didn't feel like clawing her ears off. She eagerly lapped up whatever her raven haired friends had to offer. To save time, they made a maximum of 3 songs per artist. Percy and Thalia kept a list of artists and songs that they had made Annabeth listen to, in case she wanted to take it home and download them. After tearing up at a particular Mayday Parade song, Terrible Things, Percy and Annabeth heard the door chime and looked up, Annabeth teary- eyed, Percy, the attentive employee, and Thalia with her back turned, still hunched over the piece of paper.

A teenage guy with ink black _everything_, peered at them through his eyelashes and took a step back. "Whoa, am I walking in on a teenage angst fest or something?"

Thalia rolled her eyes, "Who even says angst? Anyway, what do you need?"

Percy cleared his throat and glared at the girl sitting across from him, "Please, _shut up_. Hi, what can I do for you?"

Ignoring Thalia he turned to the fidgeting employee, "Hi Percy. I just wanted to buy a new set of picks, I lost mine a couple of days ago."

Thalia scoffed, "Who loses a _whole set_ of picks? Are you really that irresponsible?"

Annabeth smacked her on the back of her head, "Stop being fucking rude." She hissed.

She rubbed her head, "Ow, shit, that hurt." Annabeth just rolled her eyes in reply.

The boy glared at her for a second before he cocked his head, "Don't I know you from somewhere?"

She examined her nails, "I thought I was pretty memorable, Nico. _Especially_ for you."

He looked confused for a second and then his face turned into a horrified expression, "Oh, _fuck_. What the hell are you doing here?"

The punk girl smiled sweetly, "What do you think I'm doing here? Last time I checked, _you_ _can't_ play." He marched forward, almost baring his teeth. "You know that wasn't my fault, you were there!"

Percy and Annabeth glanced between the two of them, trying to figure out what was going on. The punks looked ready to kill each other and Annabeth knew she had to appease the situation before it got too out of hand. She adjusted her chair in between the two of them.

"How do you guys know each other?"

Percy frowned, "Yeah. And why do you guys sound like you hate each other?"

Nico narrowed his eyes before sitting on the counter, "We just know each other from something. We didn't get along. End of story."

Percy shut his eyes briefly before opening them again, "Look, I might not be the smartest kid, but obviously that isn't all."

Thalia scoffed, "It doesn't matter. All you need to know is that he can't play for shit. He's a dick. End of story."

Nico's eyes flashed murderously, "What do you mean, _I _can't play anything? I'll have you know I play bass pretty fucking well, and you're the one that was rude first. Hasn't your mom ever told you 'if you don't have something nice to say, don't say it at all'?"

She stood up from the stool, "Your bass skills _suck. I_ could play better, and I don't even know the strings."

He stood up as well, "Says the one who _can't even put a capo on correctly._"

She got right in his face and snarled, "The capo was broken, for fuck's sake. Back off, you intolerable excuse of a musician."

He towered over her, "You're one to talk. You call yourself a pianist and you can't even play an augmented C7."

She laughed harshly, "Really? Last time I checked, I knew all my shit. I've been playing for _6 years_. I bet you can't even name 3 fucking Major Keys and their relative Minors."

He took a step forward, "Are you seriously suggesting-"

They heard tentative footsteps and turned towards the perpetrator only to see a fearful looking Grover. He sheepishly waved, "Hey guys. Uh, what's with all the screaming?" He caught the tension between Nico and Thalia and took a step back. "You know what, I don't really want to know. I'll just stay with Bobby and Matthew." With that, he ran to the room, abruptly shutting the door.

Percy scrambled off his stool and ran to the front of the counter, "Look guys, just try to relax for a second, please. Nico, I'll go get you some picks right now, just don't do anything stupid. I really don't want to get fired. Thalia, calm down. Annabeth, watch them."

Annabeth rubbed her forehead, "Thals, sit down. Nico… just sit on the counter."

They grudgingly did as told and never stopped glaring. Finally, Percy came back, picks in hand and relief painted on his features. He shoved them in Nico's waiting hands. "Here, just pay and leave, please." Nico furiously set the money on the counter, eyes never wavering from the spot pointedly above Percy's head. Finally, he turned to leave and walked away but not before yelling, "Dad's having a dinner party on Friday. I was supposed to tell you tomorrow, but now I don't have to." On that final note, he left the store.

Thalia took in their disbelieving faces and gave them a neutral expression, "Now what?"

Annabeth exhaled, "Why did he tell you his dad's having a dinner party on Thursday?"

Her face took on a bored expression, but her posture was tense, "Oh, we're cousins."

"Are you serious?!" Percy almost screamed, but was being mindful of the multitude of instruments in the room.

"What? Yeah, why? Haven't _you_ ever seen family fight?"

"Yes," he conceded, "But not like that! I've never seen anyone fight like that, family or not!"

"Well, my family fights like that, so calm the hell down. Anyway, it's not like we actually _hate _each other. It's just…bickering."

"No, no, _no_. That was _not _just bickering. What happened?"

Thalia sighed and turned towards the wide-eyed pair, "You know the band R5?" Percy nodded his head in an affirmative while Annabeth shook her head in a no.

"Annabeth…nevermind, we'll get to them after We The Kings and The Ready Set. Anyway, Percy, you know how they're all related and in a band?"

Percy laughed in amazement, "You didn't. Tell me you didn't. Seriously? Aww, I didn't take you for the type to do that, how cute."

"I'm about to staple your fingers together, now let me finish. To answer your question, yes, we did. It didn't go very well."

Percy guffawed, turning red, "I can't believe it. That's insane."

Annabeth, finally having caught on, resorted to placing a hand over her mouth in an attempt to stifle her laughter.

"Yeah, well, anyway. That's what happened. Now, can we get back to showing Annabeth the best music in the world?" Thalia grumbled.

Annabeth's eyes lit up and she exclaimed, "Yes, please! I love Lights! Can we please listen to more of her songs? Didn't you say she did a song with Owl City?" Percy, after hearing his crush, sat up straight and yelled, "_Hell yeah._"

Percy pulled it up before hesitating, "Wait, listen to Toes first. Cactus In The Valley makes me…sad." Percy blushed, having seen their looks for his stunning _lack_ of vocabulary.

* * *

A couple hours later, with a long list, two brothers, and a Thalia in her sight, she finally managed to collapse into the car.

"So Thalia, what'd you think?"

She smiled, "He's not bad, at least he's cute and has great music taste, even if he is a little slow. He has the best friend seal of approval. Remember, if you guys do date, chicks before dicks."

Annabeth playfully shoved her, "Sorry Thals, that's not going to happen."

Thalia smiled knowingly, "You never know. Boys, what do you think?"

"About what?" They mumbled, sleep deprived, and on the verge of falling into the blissful state of sleep.

"What do you guys think about Percy and Annabeth dating?"

Bobby opened one eye, "If it does happen, that's cool. He still hasn't come over though."

"It's whatever. It'll only happen if they both man up," Matthew slurred.

Thalia turned towards Annabeth, a wide grin on her face, mouthing, "I told you."

"Whatever. Anyway, turn on some music. Handwritten by The Gaslight Anthem or Wild Heart by The Vamps, please."

Thalia mock saluted, "Your wish is my command. After those songs, I'm turning on The Boys You Do and Can't Keep My Hands Off You."

Annabeth shrugged, "Okay. Cool."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

It was a Sunday afternoon and Percy was sitting in his old recliner, a twitching smile on his face. He heard a noise and turned to see his bashful best friend quietly close the front door. Grover took off his coat, spraying water all over the Jackson household, and sat down on the couch next to the recliner. Percy went back to his phone, texting back his answer. Percy could see Grover out of the corner of his eye, staring him down, demanding his attention.

"What do you want?"

Grover made a noise of protest, hand over his heart in mock-hurt, "You aren't happy to see me? I thought we were best friends, I guess not."

Percy put his phone down and turned to him, fist under chin in mock- attention, "You, my best friend, now have my _undivided_ attention. Bless me with your knowledge! Or, do you want to be graced with my affection? Surely, you the light of my meager life, have all of my love. I can only hope it's not unrequited."

Grover choked on his spit and promptly flipped him the bird, "Screw you, Perce."

Percy winked, "In due time, perhaps. If you're lucky, I mean."

"Th-that's _not _what I meant," Grover spluttered, "I mean, there's nothing wrong with gay people. As a matter of fact, I went to a protest last week. _Anyway _I hate you, stop stalling."

"Is that why you stared me down for my affection? Out of hate? You break my heart, I can't go on. Please remember me for the rest of your life and please write a nice eulogy."

"You're lucky I'll even _show up_," Grover muttered.

Percy's amused face turned serious, "Okay, what do you need?"

"First, let it be known that _I_, as your best friend, care for your happiness. So, take that to heart."

Percy narrowed his eyes, "What are you talking about?"

"Do you like Annabeth?"

Percy gaped at him, "What the hell are you talking about? I talk to one girl like four times and suddenly I like her?"

Grover paled, "I mean, I've seen the way you guys talk, and you haven't mentioned any other girls, or people for a matter of fact. I just thought it was a strong possibility."

Percy clenched his jaw and turned back to the tiny screen, "Grover, why would I mention anybody? I don't like them and they hate me. And, I barely know the girl. She's embarrassed to be seen with me in public, gave me her number because of her brothers, and her best friend seems like she wants to kill me. What do you think?"

"Are you sure? I talked to Annabeth and she said Thalia likes you."

Percy turned to the wall, "What difference does that make? Just let it go."

"Fine. I was just trying to help and be supportive," Grover sighed.

Percy walked over to the front of the tv and grabbed two controllers, tossing one to Grover. He faced him and to the unsuspecting, he looked perfectly cool, but Grover could see the stiffness in him and knew not to push it.

* * *

The next day at school, Percy walked in, hunched over hoping the few friends he had didn't walk up to him. As he neared his locker, he bumped into an asian girl and muttered quick apologies. He felt a hand grab his arm and he turned around, hoping that the person who did it realized that he was in a piss-poor mood today.

"Hi."

His eyes flitted downward to the asian girl, "Hi."

With that being said, he walked away quickly, ignoring, what he assumed was, the girl's shout of his name.

He spent the rest of his day avoiding the masses and quietly working, secretly hoping that a certain blonde with two brothers would walk through.

Nearing the end of his shift, he grabbed his phone and texted Annabeth. For the past couple of weeks, after the Thalia encounter, he decided to grow some balls and stop acting like an insecure prick. Luckily, she texted back, not adding to the fire that was his embarrassment. She was smart and cool, even though she seemingly pretended not to notice him in school, except for the occasional waves and nods.

She was telling him about her day, in long texts because that's just Annabeth, when he heard a tapping on the counter. He looked up to see the asian from earlier staring at him. He rolled his eyes and growled out a none too politely, "What?"

_Whatever._

She hesitated and then, "Are you Percy Jackson?"

_What the fuck? _

"Yeah."

"Oh. Do you know Annabeth?"

"Yeah."

"Are you guys friends?"

"I don't know, ask her." _Maybe she'll go the fuck away now._

She pursed her lips, annoyed, "Do you always act like this?" This girl was seriously starting to grate on his nerves, he was tired and he could only handle so much social interaction.

He shrugged, "Do you need something?"

She perched herself on a stool, crossing her arms and grumbling something like, "total ass" and "jerk".

_Good. "_Seriously, do you need something?"

She shook her head, "Nope. Just wanted to meet you."

"Uh, okay. Are you friends with Annabeth?"

She smiled, "Yeah."

"...What's your name?"

"Drew."

He turned back to his phone, reading through her lengthy messages and texted her.

_Hey, do you know a Drew? - Percy_

_Yeah. Why? - Annabeth_

_She's annoying the fuck out of me and asked if I knew you. She said she was your friend, btw. - Percy_

_I don't like her, at all. She doesn't like me either. We're not friends. - Annabeth_

Drew was still looking around the room and turned back to Percy, arching an eyebrow, "Are you done?"

He clenched his jaw, "Can you leave? I'm busy and frankly, you're pissing me off."

"Same here. I don't know what Annabeth sees in you."

He got up, "Cool. Can you leave before I push you out?"

She stood up, dusting her shirt off, "Fine."

She left and he turned back to his phone collapsing back onto the stool.

_I just kicked her out - Percy_

_Good. Stay away from her. - Annabeth_

_Don't worry. You're the only girl for me, and you know it. ;) - Percy_

_I hate you. I hate you more than I hate winky faces. Leave me alone - Annabeth _

_;) - Percy_

_Fuck off. - Annabeth_

_Anyway, I have to go take Bobby and Matthew to their friend's house. I'll ttyl. - Annabeth_

_Have fun. Think of me fondly. - Percy_

_Go away before I come over and glue your eyelids together. - Annabeth_

He laughed loudly, and Grover raised an eyebrow at him, mouthing "just admit it".

Percy shrugged and turned his attention to the lady vying for his attention.


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N- If anyone hasn't told you today, you're fucking rad. _

Chapter 11

_Hey, do you want to come over? - Annabeth_

Annabeth shut her phone and buried her face into her pillows, desperately trying to calm her racing heart and tame the heat in her cheeks.

_I can't believe I did that. I can't believe I'm acting like this, I need to get myself under control. I don't even like him. _

She heard the vibration of her phone and sat up, willing herself to be calm and to stop acting like a stereotypical teenage girl.

_Sure. What time? - Percy_

Annabeth yelled for Bobby and Matthew to get their asses up to her room and once they were standing in the doorway, glaring at her, she addressed them, "What time do you guys want Percy to come over?" They immediately brightened, their irritation for their older sister forgotten.

"Percy's coming over?!" Matthew yelled.

Bobby shrugged and said, "I don't care." Annabeth crossed her arms and turned back to her phone.

_4 o'clock? - Annabeth_

_Alright, see you then. - Percy_

She glanced up to see Bobby watching her lazily and Matthew staring with anticipation.

"So, what time is he coming?"

"Uh, 4 o'clock."

"Cool. When he gets here, tell him to go down to the game room." They ran to the game room, fighting over Player 1 and Player 2.

Annabeth hummed under her breath and pulled out her phone, playing Just the Girl by The Click Five. It was the perfect mix for her, not strictly pop and not too rockerish. _Since Percy's coming in a couple of hours, I could get my homework done and have time to take a nap. Or, I could procrastinate and do it later, but then I would only get 6 hours of sleep. Well, if I went to sleep now, I could get a couple of hours of sleep and then do my homework and the nap should make up for lost time of sleep, right? _With those thoughts, she laid back on her bed and went to sleep.

During her hours of sleep, she thought she heard the sound of a doorbell, but ignored it and buried her head further in the mess of blankets and pillows. She heard a soft knocking on her door and pulled the pillow next to her over her head. The knocking ceased and she relaxed, hoping the intruder was gone. After a couple of moments, she heard a louder, more persistent knocking and grudgingly sat up.

She unlocked her phone, shut off the current song playing, Maps by Maroon 5, cracked her spine, and checked the notifications.

_Okay, I'm on my way - Percy_

_Annabeth, I'm here. - Percy_

_Where are you? - Percy_

_Was this some kind of joke? - Percy_

_Oh my fucking god Annabeth answer the fucking door - Percy_

_At least one member of the Chase family knows how to open a door - Percy_

She slowly processed the texts, her brain still sleep deprived. _Oh shit, Percy's here. Oh well, he can wait another five minutes._

She got out of bed and fixed herself in the bathroom mirror. Luckily, she didn't toss and turn in her nap so her hair wasn't a complete disaster. She opened the door and saw her father appraising her, eyebrow raised.

"Hi Annabeth. There's a boy here, waiting for you. Says his name is Percy?"

She waved her hand, "Yeah, I know. I'm coming down."

He nodded shortly then went back to his office. She rolled her eyes at his _under _enthusiasm and walked down the stairs, prepared to see a green eyed boy with a troublemaker smile sitting awkwardly on her couch. What she was not prepared to see, was three boys, controllers out, and hearing screaming and gun shots.

She put her head against the banister of the stairwell, arms crossed.

"Hi guys."

Bobby muttered out a "hey", Matthew didn't even react, but Percy dropped his controller; sheepishly smiling at Annabeth.

"Hi Annabeth."

"What the heck, Percy?! You just killed yourself, good job," Bobby yelled.

"It's not like it matters. He was weighing our team down. Annabeth, Percy sucks a lot. Like, it's sad," Matthew stated.

He scowled and got up, ignoring the boy. "So, do you want to go do something?"

She smirked, "I see video games are not-"

He glared at her, "Do not finish that sentence, it's not funny. Let's go. Please. Now. Anywhere from this vicinity."

She clapped sarcastically, "Wow, vicinity. A+ for that SAT vocab word."

He rolled his eyes and steered her out of the room, "Oh, shut up."

Once they were outside of the room, he let go of her shoulders and cast his eyes around, "So, where do you want to go or uh do?"

"Um, it's up to you."

"Seriously, Annabeth."

"I'm serious."

They stared each other down, until Annabeth relented, "Can we go to the library? I need to get some books and yeah. You know what? Nevermind, that's weird," Annabeth rambled, getting redder by the second.

He chuckled, "It's a little weird, but it's fine. Nothing to be embarrassed about."

_Wow, can he please stop. _

She coughed, "Oh, thanks. What do you want to do then? Stay here and watch television?"

He full out grinned, showing a nice set of white teeth.

_Of course._

They walked to another closed room and sat in front of the large television, scrolling through Netflix. Percy smiled, "So, is this what you always do when you have guests over?"

She kicked him, "_No._ I rarely have company. Usually only Thalia and partners for school projects, you know?"

He nodded in affirmation then turned to face the tv, the light of the show making his eyes brighter, "So, why don't you want anybody to know that we're friends or that you play guitar? I mean, it's a little weird."

She turned her head away from the face of Oliver Queen from Arrow and watched the shadows dance along Percy's face. Annabeth shifted uncomfortably; she couldn't help but ask herself the same question. "Um, music is something private for me. People assume they know me when they don't, you know? It's just easier to keep the better parts of my life to myself. It makes it a little more bearable. I didn't say that I didn't want anybody to know we were friends. I do. It has just... never come up to my friends, I guess. Why does it matter anyway?"

He whipped his head around, eyes heated with emotions she knew all too well. Confusion, a bit of barely contained anger, and disbelief.

_Fuck. _


	12. Chapter 12

_A/N- Y'all are the fucking shit and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. _

Chapter 12

Percy was fucking pissed and hurt. He fought to keep his face blank and appear calm, but judging by Annabeth's expression, he could tell he wasn't succeeding. He turned back to Arrow, jaw clenched, and the vein in his neck popping out. He drummed his fingers on the armrest of the couch, trying to appear interested in the exchange between the characters, Shado and Slade. He felt Annabeth watching him, waiting for him to react verbally, but he was not going to give her the satisfaction. At the end of the episode he felt the shift in the couch and knew she was about to open her mouth.

"Percy..." Annabeth said, carefully.

He swallowed, trying to keep his voice calm and disinterested, "What."

He felt her lean her head back against the cushion. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her open her mouth to speak and braced himself for the interrogation.

"Are you mad at me?"

He narrowed his eyes at the screen, "What do you think?" He almost winced from the amount of viciousness he put into it, but couldn't care less at that point. After all these months, she was still embarrassed to even _look _at him in public. He saw her flinch and drop her gaze to her hands, fiddling with them mindlessly.

"Why?"

_What the hell does she mean, why? _He almost laughed from the hilarity of the situation, Annabeth fucking Chase worried about _his _perception of her. It's not like it mattered to her, obviously. Her demeanor to his previous questions confirmed that for all these months. "What do you mean, why? It should be fairly obvious, especially for someone smart, like yourself."

She raised her head and narrowed her eyes, "Are you implying that I'm _stupid_?"

He laughed bitterly, "Did it sound like it, Chase?"

Her mouth turned down and he could see a fight coming on. Good. He had hoped to elicit that reaction, he needed one. He craved one.

"Yeah, _Jackson_. It did."

"I guess you need to listen more carefully then."

She closed her eyes and took a visible breath, "Stop evading the question. Why are you mad?"

"Like I said, it should be obvious."

Her back stiffened and he saw her muscles tense.

He stood up, deciding to play it out all the way. He didn't need to goad her any longer, but he wanted to. He set up the bait and she took it.

He pointed his thumb to the outside of the room and backed up, "Look, I'm going to go. Call me when you get it."

He saw her stand up and reach out a hand, as if to stop him.

"Look, Percy. Whatever I said, I'm sorry. You don't have to leave."

"You still don't understand. You're apologizing without even realizing _why_. Since you don't understand, it doesn't matter. That apology is meaningless, holds no value, so I'm going to leave. Goodbye."

Percy took long strides out to the front of the house, grabbed his shoes, and waved farewell to the twins, who were oblivious of the obvious aggression in Percy's stance.

_Damn. I planned on staying there longer. _

He scrolled through his phone and texted his trusted best friend.

_Hey Grover, let's hang out - Percy_

_Aren't you supposed to be with Annabeth? - Grover_

_It's a long story. I'll explain later. Meet at shop? - Percy_

_Uh, okay. I'll see you in a couple minutes - Grover_

Percy pocketed the phone and backed out of the Chase driveway, heading to his workplace. As he sang along to his playlist, he couldn't help but wonder what Annabeth was doing at the moment. How she was feeling, as well. He was never good with emotional situations and hoped that she could quickly figure out what was wrong with their relationship. He saw Grover at the entrance of the door, and honked, eliciting a shriek from the terrified, acne ridden teenager. Percy cackled and quickly found a parking spot.

He jogged over to Grover and smirked, "Hello. Fancy seeing you here."

Grover snorted, "You're such an idiot. Let's go. I want to get this over as soon as possible, I'm fucking hungry."

Percy entered the door and mock saluted at Zoë, walking up to her.

She looked him up and down distastefully then said, "What do you want? It's not your shift."

"I know. I'm just here to talk to Grover, we'll be in the back."

She huffed and motioned them to the back, "Don't mess anything up, I mean it. Last time you guys were back here by yourselves, _I _had to clean up and explain to Chiron that you guys were incompetent idiots. I'm not covering for you guys this time. Goodbye."

"She scares the shit out of me, even though she is hot," Grover muttered.

Percy took a seat and propped his feet up on the nearest chair, "Whatever man. I'm just glad she hasn't killed me yet."

Grover nodded in agreement and took the seat across from his best friend.

He clapped his hands together and rubbed them, "So, what's wrong?"

Percy's expression darkened and his legs tensed, "I got in a fight with Annabeth."

"I figured that. I'm not an idiot. I meant why, so I can tell you what to do."

Percy took his feet down and leaned forward, "I asked Annabeth why she was embarrassed to be seen with me and she couldn't answer."

Grover rubbed his forehead, "What the hell were you thinking? Never mind, I know the answer. You weren't thinking. Look, since you already burned down that bridge, I suggest you just apologize. We both know that's what you're going to end up doing anyway."

Percy's eyes blazed and he shook his head furiously, "No. No way. It's not my fault. I asked because I wanted to know. She needs to understand I'm not going to be some thing that she hides in the dark."

Grover rolled his eyes, "Then just talk to her about it. Make her understand. You can't leave her hanging like that. You have to tell her what you're feeling and thinking because otherwise it'll get twisted and warped in her mind."

Percy stood up and slapped his back, "Thanks buddy. Maybe you should be a shrink."

Grover smiled, pulled out his phone, and relaxed into the chair, "I was thinking about it. Anyways, good luck. Better to do it tomorrow so you have time to think it over."

Percy nodded and walked out of the room, "Grover, let's go get food. Put the phone down or else we're not going."

Grover stood up and literally ran to his car, the both of them agreeing at meeting up at their favorite Italian restaurant.

Halfway through the meal, Grover looked up at Percy, seeing that his food was practically untouched. "Hey, are you going to eat that?"

Percy sighed, "I know, you said I should talk to her, but I don't know if I should. I don't want to be friends with someone who's embarrassed to be seen with me."

He heard a broken voice behind him whisper, "That's what you think?"


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

After Percy had left, Annabeth ran to her room and sat on her bed, pondering what he could possibly have meant.

_I need to figure it out? What do I need to figure out?_

She laid back on the mattress, playing Thin Line by Macklemore. She buried her face into her pillows, yet again, and heard her phone go off. She groaned, wondering who the hell it was and cursing their awful timing.

_Annabeth - Grover_

_Hi. I assume you've heard what happened with Percy? - Annabeth_

_Yeah. By the way, you're both idiots. You know that little Italian bistro next to the bookshop? - Grover_

_Which bookshop? And wow rude. - Annabeth_

_The one like two streets down from the guitar shop, duh. - Grover_

_Oh yeah, okay. What about it? - Annabeth_

_You need to get down there. As fast as you can. Okay. I have to go. Bye. - Grover_

Annabeth was aware that it was probably Grover's attempt to repair whatever convoluted relationship she and Percy had.

_Well, I need to make this right. _

She got up from the squeaky mattress and shut off her music. Annabeth padded down the stairs, thinking through her speech, only to be met with the stern eyes of her mother.

"Where do you think you're going?" Athena questioned.

Annabeth's gaze sharpened. After she had taken the boys for ice cream, their parents had sat them down and explained the reason for their divorce. The boys didn't understand at first, until Annabeth explained it to them in simpler terms. After the explanation, she had took her brothers by the hands and forced them to sleep. After months, she still harbored feelings of resentment and anger toward her mother for having an affair. After 17 years of pressuring her to do well or else "destroy the family" her mother had been screwing another guy behind their backs. Here she was, trying to act like a mother, when she was the one that ruined their family.

Annabeth felt her resolve harden, "None of your concern. Can you step aside now, so I can leave? Please."

Athena's eyes flashed, "I am your mother, do _not_ talk to me that way."

The younger girl laughed darkly. "You stopped being my mother the moment you _fucked_ another person-" Her mother visibly flinched and she couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction, "Now, get out of the way," she said coldly.

Her mother stepped back and softened her gaze, "Just let me explain."

Annabeth shook her head and opened the front door, "I have better things to do than listen to the person who manipulated this family. My family, which you are no longer a part of." She closed the door and walked to her car.

Once inside, she buried her face into her hands and leaned against the wheel, allowing the sobs to come out. She cried harder than she did when she found out about the divorce, when she had to explain to her brothers, and every other day since then. After those words to her mother did she realize that they rang true.

_My own mother. We weren't good enough for her. I wasn't good enough for her. Why wasn't I enough?_

She wiped her eyes, clenched her fists tightly around the wheel, and drove to the bistro.

_You know what they say, first comes grief, then comes anger. _She gladly let the rage fill her, anything to cover up the void she felt with the dawning realization of her mother's betrayal.

Once there, she shut the car door and ran into the restaurant. She quickly spotted the pair from behind and slowly approached them, she could hear pieces of their conversation but one part stuck out to her. "I don't want to be friends with someone who's embarrassed to be seen with me." He sounded so blank, like it was a fact, nothing that could change. Even if it was the complete opposite.

Her throat, still raspy from her crying and the sudden flood of emotions, "That's what you think?"

She coughed and tried again, "I'm embarrassed? That's the farthest from the truth."

He saw them turn their heads, Percy's eyes widened with surprise and Grover had a small smirk on his face. "What are you doing here?" His voice wasn't furious, like she expected, more disappointed. She felt a twist in her heart and having already been emotional by her mother, felt the tears fill her eyes.

His eyes widened and he jumped out of his seat, walking briskly towards her.

"No, please, don't cry," He pleaded.

She felt a laugh bubble up in her throat and shot him a watery smile, "I'm trying very hard not to right now. I just got in a fight with my mom; now you're angry and hate me. It seems like the universe is out to get me."

He shook his head, "No, I'm not mad. I stopped being mad a long time ago. Let's go talk, alright? I don't like attention." Annabeth glanced around the room and noticed the stares and whispers. Percy shot them a pointed "mind your own damn business" look, paid the bill, and motioned for Annabeth to follow him. She looked back at the table for Grover and noticed him gone. She checked her phone, which had gone off some point during the exchange, and saw a text from Grover.

_You guys need to talk it out. I'll see you later - Grover_

Once outside, Percy looked up, inhaling deeply. He turned to face her and Annabeth noticed how floppy his hair was, the veins in his arms flexing, and the sparkle of green-blue in his eyes. The moon cast shadows on his face, emphasizing his cheekbones and made him look a little daunting.

"I don't hate you," Percy said softly.

Annabeth let out a small chuckle, "That's good. Also, I get it now."

He furrowed his brows, "Get what?"

"What you were trying to say. I get it. I'm not embarrassed, quite the opposite in fact."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes. You're like my guitars."

He snorted, "I'm like a musical instrument? Good to know."

She playfully pushed him, "No, you idiot. You're important to me. It's like my guitars, you've kept me sane for the past few months. You're one of the better parts of my life that I like to keep private."

He looked up at the sky, "Don't you think you're rushing this? We've only talked for a couple of months, you don't enough about me to say I'm a good part of your life."

"That's true. We have these last two months of school and summer. That's a lot of time to 'know' you," Annabeth mused.

He gave her a breathtaking grin, "Does that mean you're going to acknowledge me now, outside of the guitar shop and phone, I mean."

She dragged her finger along the doorway, "Hmmm, I guess."

He chuckled and threw an arm over her shoulders, making her go warm, "You make my life so difficult."

They walked to their respective cars and she turned to him, eyes sparkling.

"I am never going to make things easy for you, get used to it."


	14. Chapter 14

_A/N- Sorry for the late updates, I have been so busy. As usual, you guys are great ugh._

Chapter 14

Percy couldn't stop smiling. Which was stupid, because he had been in other fights with his other friends besides Annabeth, and he didn't feel giddy when it was resolved. It was weird, for him, to say the least. He didn't question it further and once home, texted Grover, smiled at his mother, and ran to his room.

_Hi - Grover_

_Hello - Percy_

_What happened? - Grover_

_We're fine - Percy_

_That's cool - Grover_

_I just wanted to check up, I'll see you tomorrow - Grover_

_Bye - Percy_

He relaxed against the bedsheets and fell asleep.

The next day at school, he grudgingly trudged up the school steps, like he had been doing for the past four years. He made his way to his locker and pulled out his books. Percy closed the locker door and came face to face with that annoying asian girl, Drew.

"Hi," she said brightly.

It was too fucking early in the morning for this and he didn't have it in him to be really nice and courteous.

"Hi, what do you want?" He said blandly.

"Nothing. I just wanted to know what you're doing," she said, not at all fazed with his bluntness.

"I was putting my books in my locker..."

Drew opened her mouth and before she could reply he saw a flash of blonde curls and prayed that she would come and save him. Thankfully, she was already striding over, a determined look on her face mixed with something he couldn't quite name.

"What are you doing?" Annabeth asked Drew.

Drew perked up even more, if it was possible, and sported a smile. "Oh, just talking to Percy. What are _you _doing?"

Annabeth crossed her arms, "Why? You don't like him, he doesn't like you. Just go away."

_Damn._

Drew took a step towards Annabeth, "You don't know anything about me."

Annabeth laughed maliciously, "Please, don't resort to the 'you know my name, not my story' bullshit."

Drew opened her mouth to retort but they all heard squeals of the asian girl's name. She straightened up and turned to Percy.

"Bye, Percy. I'll see you later."

When she left toward her friends, he saw Annabeth studiously looking at his locker. He hesitated, he never really had girl friends before, except for his friend Rachel, and didn't know if he was supposed to ask her what's wrong or ignore it.

"Um, are you okay?" He almost winced at how timid he sounded.

She stood straighter and plastered on a smile, "I'm fine."

Skeptically he nodded and opened his mouth to say something when he heard footsteps approach him from behind. He turned around and saw a girl with obsidian black hair looking at him.

He waved, "Um, hi?"

She ignored him and turned to Annabeth, "Annabeth, I need to talk to you."

Annabeth mouthed an apology to the confused boy and nodded her head at the girl, "Yeah, Reyna, what is it?"

She flitted her eyes up to Percy and Annabeth regarded her shrewdly.

"You can tell me in front of Percy."

Reyna's gaze grew even colder and whispered something in Annabeth's ear. Annabeth, still looking at Percy, said something back to Reyna. She seemed satisfied for the answer as she started to walk away.

Percy watched her go and looked back to Annabeth, "Who was that?"

"Oh, that's one of my friends. She's really nice once you get to know her."

"Uh, alright. I mean you look kind of freaked out right now…"

"I'm fine. Go to class, I'll see you at lunch."

He smiled, "Are you going to sit with me and Grover today?"

She nodded then waved him off.

At lunch, he saw Annabeth already sitting at his usual table and claimed the seat next to her.

"Hi, I didn't know if you would actually sit with us," Percy said, which in hindsight was probably stupid to say.

She tensed and frowned at him, "Why would I lie about sitting with you guys?"

Percy shook his head, "You don't have to. I mean, your friends over there are staring at you, wondering why you're talking to me."

Grover appeared 'round the corner and made a beeline straight for them.

She sat up, "Let them wonder. It shouldn't concern them. You guys are my friends too."

They conversed, in between bites of food, and it was great. Towards the end of lunch, when they were all laughing at one of Grover's recap of an enchilada incident, another one of Annabeth's friends had walked over and coughed.

Annabeth looked up, a tad annoyed, "Yeah?"

"We were just wondering if you were going to sit with us tomorrow."

"No, I think I'll stay with Percy and Grover if that's okay."

The girl nodded, shooting her a look that Percy couldn't decipher. It obviously upset Annabeth but she tried to play it off, smiling brightly and continuing on the conversation as if something weird didn't just happen. After lunch, Percy pulled Annabeth aside and she stared him.

"Okay, what's wrong?"

She arched an eyebrow, "What makes you think anything is wrong?"

He made an annoyed noise in his throat and turned back to Annabeth.

"Because I know you. We're friends, remember? So, are you going to tell me or am I going to have to pry it out of you?"

She sighed and rubbed her temple, "Percy. Just leave it alone. Don't go all overprotective on me, okay?"

He glanced towards a freshman blatantly gaping at them and sent a scowl towards the boy. He looked towards Annabeth and nodded curtly, not liking the idea at all.

She untangled herself from his grasp and started to walk away calling out a goodbye over her shoulder.

Percy sighed and marched back to Grover. He recounted the whole exchange with him and the acne-filled boy stayed silent.

"Look, Percy, I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. If she wants to talk about it with you, she will. Don't try to force anything out of her. About the 'weird' looks, I think deep down you know what they are. Unless you really are an idiot." With his spiel over, he walked away, leaving Percy to his thoughts.


	15. Chapter 15

_A/N- You guys are cool. Also, I love this chapter so much. _

Chapter 15

Annabeth was absolutely fuming. After lunch, Drew had cornered her and demanded she speak to her. Annabeth scoffed and waved her off but not until she said that she would try every day until she talked to her. She marched over to Drew in the main hallway after school ended and folded her arms, her eyes burning.

"I'm here. What do you want?" she snapped.

Drew cast her gaze over the blonde girl disinterestedly. "To talk about Percy, of course."

Annabeth rolled her eyes, "What about him?"

"When did you become friends with him? You know what people say about him."

Annabeth's gaze narrowed and the hallway became infinitesimally colder. "Why should I care about what people say?" she asked.

Drew shook her head, "Sometimes, what people say are true. I'm just trying to look out for you."

Annabeth clenched her jaw. "Bullshit, we hate each other. Yeah, and a lot of the time, people are wrong. You forget they drove my brother away from school, away from _me_." Her voice broke on the last word and she coughed to hide her discomfort.

Drew gave her a mirthless smile, "Don't bring Luke into this, Annabeth. That was an honest mistake, you were only a sophomore when it happened. Don't try and act like you understood what was going on."

Annabeth's vision became blurry with angry tears and she had trouble suppressing the urge to punch the other girl in the face. She took a deep breath, hoping to calm herself. It didn't work.

"How is it a mistake to slash someone in the face? I saw people _beat _him. Nothing in this school is a goddamned 'mistake'; you people thought he was a freak and he got bullied for it. Everything here is planned and I hate it. I hate the people here for what they did and what they're saying now. I swear, you and everyone else better leave Percy and Grover the hell alone. They've done nothing wrong, so don't act like they did."

Drew looked at her with pity, "Don't threaten me, and don't act like you _like _the Jackson kid and his friend. The only reason you're even talking to them is because you pity them. He reminds you of Luke, doesn't he?"

Annabeth took a step towards her and growled, "Don't bring my brother into this, don't talk about it him, don't even say his name."

Drew's eyes flashed and she chuckled, "Why do you care so much? He's your _half_-brother, not even your full blood."

Annabeth clenched her fists and she could feel the rage and hurt pulsing through her, infecting her sense of reason. She thought of Luke and what he would say now and quickly the anger dimmed to where she could control it. She exhaled through her nostrils and looked up to Drew's eyes, seeing them full of amusement.

"I have to go, it was great talking to you. I'll take your concerns about my life to heart," she said through clenched teeth, with a faint hint of sarcasm.

Drew chuckled, walking away, "Like I said, I'm just _looking out for you_."

Annabeth raced out of the school building, running into the parking lot, got in her car, and slammed the door shut. Her mind was racing and she couldn't _think_. She pulled out her phone and dared to text the person that's been occupying her thoughts for the past two years.

_Hi – Annabeth _

She waited for ten minutes and didn't get a response. She tried again.

_I need you – Annabeth_

She laid her head back on the head rest and closed her eyes, feeling the tears threaten to escape. She heard a ping in her phone and opened it.

_What's wrong? – Luke_

_Can we meet? Or can I come over? – Annabeth _

_You can come over. I gave you my address a couple of months ago, if you still have it. – Luke_

Annabeth remembered the first time she had gotten word from her brother. She had opened it, hoping for an explanation, but all that was written was an address and a number. Since then, every once in a while there would be a new number. Her parents had looked at each of the notes with disgust and instructed her to throw them away. She secretly kept them all in her room, staring at the cards for what seemed like hours. She had memorized both the numbers and the address long ago.

_I'm driving now – Annabeth_

_Alright. See you soon. – Luke_

_Luke – Annabeth_

_I miss you – Annabeth _

Annabeth started up her car and started driving, navigating through the roads. She had yet to hear a ping from Luke until she was halfway there. She pulled up in front of the apartment and parked. After she had parked, she checked her phone.

_I miss you too. - Luke_

She carefully knocked on the door and heard a series of clicks before she saw the door open. When the door swung open, she saw Luke staring at her. He had filled out since then, eyes still blue, but now guarded, the remnants of a scar still on his cheek. Tears filled her eyes and she ran at him, knocking him down, still hugging him fiercely. They fell on the ground and he wrapped his arms around her. She could feel his chuckling against her chest and just hugged him tighter, wondering why she hadn't sought him out earlier.

"Why-" she choked on her words and just laid her head back down on his chest. _Why haven't you called? Why haven't you come see me? Why don't you love me anymore? Why haven't you been my brother anymore?_

He soothed her, playing with her golden locks. After what seemed like forever, he helped her stand and brought her on the couch. She looked around the room and saw how contemporary everything looked, it seemed quite expensive but she quickly decided to ask him about it later. Once they were both seated on the couch, he opened his arms and she fell against him, starting to cry again. She never cried so much in her life, but decided that she couldn't give a damn. She was with her brother, after two years, in welcome arms.

He spoke, "It's going to be okay, I promise."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Annabeth willed the tears not to fall and untangled herself from her brother's death grip of an embrace.

He chuckled, "You know, so far, you've cried more than I've ever seen you cry your whole life."

She swatted his arm and wiped her eyelids, "Shut up, I'm not afraid to hurt you."

He raised his hands in surrender, "What's wrong?"

She laughed, "I'm crying because I'm with you again, you idiot."

He rolled his eyes, "I meant before that. When you texted me."

Her laughter died down and she stared at the wall, "I talked to Drew."

Luke blinked, "Why the hell did you do that?"

"It wasn't my choice. She asked to talk to me."

Luke grabbed her shoulder and squeezed hard enough for her to turn to him.

"Don't talk to her. Don't associate with her. You only have a couple of months left of school."

"Don't you think I know that?"

Her brother leaned back against the couch, "What did she want?"

She shrugged, "To talk about my friend, Percy. She talked about you too."

He played idly with his phone, "Tell me everything."

So she did. She recounted the conversation about her pitying Percy, the fact that she shouldn't care about Luke because they were _half siblings _like that would've made a difference about her brother.

He visibly clenched his jaw, and a vein in his neck popped out.

"I hate her. What the fuck does our relation have to do with her? You're the only one in this goddamned family I even like. She shouldn't talk about your friend anyway, it's none of her damn business. Just stay away from her," he spit out.

She placed a wary hand on his very tense arm.

"I know," she said softly. "I'm sorry for stressing you out about my problems. Wait, what about Bobby and Matthew?"

He tensed even further, "What about them?"

"What do you mean I'm the only one in the family you like?"

He sighed exasperatedly, "Of course I love them, if that's what you're implying. Annabeth, they aren't related to me. You're the only one."

She grew cold, "What do you mean? Of course they are."

He shook his head, "No, Annabeth. Your dad cheated on mom and the lady gave birth to Bobby and Matthew. They're your half-brothers as well."

"That doesn't make any sense. I would've remembered."

He laughed darkly, "No, you wouldn't have. You were a little kid, you would believe anything anyone told you. Mom hid it from you because she didn't want your picture perfect view of dad to be ruined."

She rubbed her temples, "Can you tell me exactly how I'm related to everyone now? I'm so confused."

"Mom had me before your dad came into the picture, guy abandoned her, yeah. You know that story. Uh, you were born through the product of mom and your dad. You should know that, making us half siblings. Dad had an affair and I found Mom crying one day. It was weird, you know? Mom never cries. Anyway, she told me what happened and made me promise not to tell you or anyone else. You were a little kid, you didn't know what to expect, so I guess it was really easy just to make you believe Mom was the birth mother of Bobby and Matthew."

Annabeth stood up, starting to pace, "Why didn't the lady keep the twins then? Why let us have them?"

He laid down, taking the full expanse of the couch, "She died in child birth apparently."

She sat on top of his legs, "Why is our family so fucked up?"

He covered his face, "I don't know."

He got up off the couch and walked to the, also contemporary, kitchen. Annabeth checked her phone to see a couple of missed messages and some new emails. She hummed and opened the texts, wondering what everyone wanted.

_Hi – Thalia_

_What happened? – Percy_

_I mean it's okay if you don't want to talk about it – Percy _

_Where are you? – Mom _

She replied back to Thalia, told Percy she would tell him later, and hovered nervously over her mother's message, wondering if she should tell her the truth or not.

_I'm with Luke – Annabeth_

She heard clanging in the kitchen and whipped her head around to see Luke smiling bashfully at her, "Don't worry about it."

_Why? – Mom_

_Because I missed him. – Annabeth_

_You need to come home. – Mom_

_I told you, I'm with Luke. – Annabeth_

_Annabeth, come home now. – Mom_

_Why? – Annabeth_

_Because I said so – Mom_

_Well, I don't care. I'm staying with Luke. Don't bother waiting for me, I'm staying the night. – Annabeth_

After she sent her final text, she turned off her phone and collapsed back on the couch. Luke strode in a couple moments later and bumped shoulders with her.

"What're you thinking about?"

"Mom just texted me."

He stiffened and turned his gaze forward, "Oh yeah? Did you tell her you were here and that you know the truth now?"

She buried her face in the nearest couch cushion, "I told her I was here, but not about Bobby and Matthew."

"What did she want?"

"She just told me to come home and then I told her I was staying the night."

Annabeth peeked up from the cushion and saw her brother looking at her with amusement.

"Was that a demand?"

She nodded once and turned back to him, "So, where am I sleeping?"

He rubbed the back of his neck, "Um, I guess you can take my room. I'll sleep on the couch."

Annabeth shook her head vigorously, "No, no. I'll sleep on the couch."

He glared at her, "No, take my room. I'm sleeping on the couch."

Annabeth sat down on the couch and smiled up at him victoriously. He sighed and asked her if she wanted to eat some dinner.

They walked into the kitchen where Luke had made some spaghetti. He spooned it out and they ate, Annabeth on the counter, and Luke leaning against the opposing stove. They ate in silence for a while, until Annabeth said, "When'd you learn how to cook? When I was 14 you burned the ramen."

He narrowed his eyes, "I was a 16 year old boy who never had to cook in his life, give me a break."

"Hey Luke, I have two requests to make."

He looked up from his bowl, "What are they?"

She put the bowl down and stared back into her lap, "Why did you leave?"

"That is a very hard question to answer."

She felt the tears well up again and swore, "Didn't you miss me? Why would you just leave me?"

He pulled on a curl, "Hey, hey. Of course I missed you, I just told you you were my favorite sibling, even though you're my _only _sibling. I left because our family is too much to deal with and everyone at school… It was just too much. I'm sorry for not explaining or telling you."

She looked up to see his eyes full of regret, "Okay. Just letting you know, I'm going to come back more often."

He smiled, "I look forward to it, kiddo."

She punched him in the arm, "I'm 18 you asshole!"

He patted her face, "Age means nothing to me."

She swatted his arm away and huffed, "Stop touching me. You'll give me acne or worse, infect me with your ugly."

He placed a hand over his heart in mock hurt, "Excuse you. If I'm ugly, what are you? I'd love to give you acne, it'll ruin you and you'll finally leave me alone."

She laughed loudly and eventually he joined in.

Once the laughter died down, Luke looked at her seriously.

"Okay, what's that second request?"

"Do you want to meet Percy?"

He pondered for a second and Annabeth could see him weighing the options. Eventually, he smiled, "Sure. I need to meet the guy you have a crush on. It's my job to scare him off."

Her jaw dropped, "You're full of shit! I don't have a crush on him, wow."

He placed the empty bowls in the sink, "That's not what it seems like."

They spent the rest of the night exchanging old stories, catching up, and watching crappy movies until they both fell asleep. It turned out both of them slept on the couch.


	17. Chapter 17

_A/N- I loved Luke so much in the books, he had so many sides to him. Ugh, love three dimensional characters. Especially since in TLO he showed major character growth. Kudos to Rick. _

_Wowsies - yeah I like One Republic a lot, mainly their old stuff. _

Chapter 17

Percy walked up the steps to the school, narrowly avoiding a pole that was threatening to hit his head. He sighed and rubbed his temple, praying that that asian girl didn't come try to talk to him, worsening his headache. He felt the vibration of his phone and pulled it out, still perched on the top of the school step.

_Hey, can you come out to the front of the school? – Annabeth_

_I'm already here – Percy_

_Alright, well go to the student parking. – Annabeth_

_Okay – Percy _

He sighed and walked to the designated student parking where he saw the top of Annabeth's head. He walked closer and saw her with an attractive looking guy. It's not that he was gay, but no matter what your sexuality was, a person could always tell when another person was attractive. It bothered him that guys were so insecure they couldn't admit a guy was good looking. He walked closer and saw him tugging the end of Annabeth's curl. A flash of jealousy went through him and his face morphed into one of resentment.

"Hi," Percy said.

"Percy, hi," Annabeth said. He was shocked about how joyful she looked. He's seen her happy, of course, but not like this. Her eyes were shining and she was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Hey," a kind of deep voice said. He looked up to see the guy offering him a smile. He was sandy haired, his eyes were a deep blue, and he had a long scar running down the side of his face. It didn't help that he was a couple of inches taller than Percy.

"Hey," he said, shoving down his own insecurities.

Annabeth took the guy's arm and pulled him forward.

"Whoa, calm down. Nobody's going anywhere," the guy said, chuckling.

Annabeth looked up at him, scowling, but it was obvious to any onlookers that her eyes screamed of affection for the guy.

She looked back to Percy, "Percy, this is Luke. Luke, this is Percy."

They nodded at each other and Luke turned to Percy, "So, I heard you play guitar."

"Yeah. What about you?"

He smiled, "Yeah, who do you think taught dear Bananabeth over here."

Percy's mouth fell open and he almost cried from the intensity of his laughter.

She opened her mouth, fully intending to mouth off but Luke wrapped an arm around Annabeth's shoulder and pressed the palm of his hand into Annabeth's cheek. She screeched and pushed his shoulder, yelling obscenities to him.

"Luke, I swear, I will hurt you! Let go of me and stop touching me! I'm going to murder you, you asshole! Let the fuck go of me!"

He turned back to Percy, "Do you hear anything?"

Percy rolled his eyes, "Come on man, let her go."

He held his hands up in mock surrender, eyes glinting with a knowing expression, and took his arm off her shoulder. She huffed, pulling down her shirt, which was a little baggy.

"Great, you ruined everything, including my shirt. Look, the collar's stretched."

Luke waggled his finger, "No, you're the one who fought against my loving grip and that is_ my_ shirt."

That was enough for Percy to feel like he was intruding and he turned towards the school.

"Annabeth, I'm going to go. I'll see you later. Luke, it was nice meeting you."

Annabeth froze and turned to him, "No, I'll come too. Luke has to go anyway!"

Luke raised his eyebrows, "I guess I have to go. I'll pick you up when school ends."

Annabeth nodded, "Damn right you will."

Luke bent down to her level and whispered something in her ear, that had her blushing and pulling on the sleeve of her shirt. "Fuck you," she muttered.

He winked and Annabeth punched him in the arm, "That's fucking disgusting, why would you even joke about that!" she screeched. He let out a bark of laughter and Percy could feel his dislike for Luke increasing by the second.

He started to walk away, but not without mussing her hair. "See you later, kiddo!" he called over his shoulder.

Grumbling, she turned back to him, "Stop calling me that!"

"No can do."

She grabbed Percy's arm and they started walking toward the school building.

"Why is Luke calling you kiddo?"

She huffed, "He's two years older, so yeah. What'd you think of him?"

He looked away, "I guess he's okay. He seems kind of annoying."

She laughed, "Yeah, he is."

He looked at her, "So how long have you guys been dating?"

She paused and burst into full hysterics. She was clutching her abdomen and her eyes were closed. "We're not dating, that's gross," she stated, still snickering.

Percy stared at her, confused, "What?"

She shook her head, "He's my brother, you idiot."

Percy felt the dawning realization take him and he wanted to smack himself, then fall into a ditch. "Well, how was I supposed to know that?" he said defensively.

She pulled on a strand of his inky hair, "Aw, does someone feel stupid?"

"No, but I bet Bananabeth does," he said, smiling crookedly.

She huffed and glared at him, "Don't call me that. I hate Luke for telling you."

"So how come I haven't heard of Luke? I thought you only had Bobby and Matthew."

Her gaze grew a little cold, "No, I have Bobby, Matthew, and Luke." Her tone screamed for him to drop it, so he did.

"Oh okay. So where does Bananabeth come from?"

She smiled reluctantly at him, "Maybe you can ask my _brother_. Anyway, please don't call me that. Luke's the only one who ever nicknames me."

"Why are you being all defensive?"

She crossed her arms, "I just, to tell you the truth, I haven't seen Luke in two years. Anything that has to do with him, I like to keep between us. He's the one that's open to the idea of other people."

He nodded his head, "So when did you catch up with him?"

"Yesterday," she stated nonchalantly.

"Oh okay." They stopped outside her classroom and she waved goodbye at him.

After school, Annabeth had texted him to meet outside the front of the school. He hurried his pace and found her leaning against the pillar outside of the high school. He tapped her on the shoulder and she turned to him, the sunlight illuminating her sharp cheekbones and the glint of her hair. She grinned, showing her great set of teeth.

_Wow, she is really pretty. _

"Hi, are you working today?"

"No, I changed shifts with my friend."

"Okay, then do you want to go to Luke's apartment?"

He ran a hand through his hair, "Um, yeah, sure. If he's okay with it, I mean."

She frowned a little bit, "Why are you rambling?"

He blew a breath, "I'm not."

She rolled her eyes; muttering under her breath about how stupid boys were.

He pointed his thumb towards the student parking lot, "Text me the address. I'll be there as soon as possible."

She nodded and ran to give her brother a hug. He looked up and caught Percy's eyes, giving him an unreadable expression. Eventually he smiled and waved, and Percy reciprocated, his previous annoyance for him gone.

He got in his car, texted his mom, checked his phone for the address, and headed off. He rolled down his windows and started singing along to the song playing, She's A Lady by Forever The Sickest Kids. He stopped at the red light and turned to find Luke's car pulled up next to him, their windows down as well.

Annabeth poked her head out, singing along to the chorus of _his _song, and he could see Luke rubbing his forehead in exasperation. When Annabeth literally screamed, _She's a lady and ladies shouldn't be messed with_, Luke put his hand over her mouth, enjoying her anger. Percy mimicked the guitar part and turned to watch the light again, remembering he had to be a good driver, no matter how cute Annabeth looked.

Eventually, they both pulled up at the entrance of Luke's apartment and the trio walked in, mindful of the amount of noise they made.

Once they were comfortable, Luke told Annabeth to get some refreshments while he had a chat with Percy. She glanced at the both of them, then took hesitant steps to the kitchen.

Luke propped his feet on top of the coffee table in front of them. It was silent for a moment before Annabeth's brother said, "I know you got the hots for my sister."

Percy stared at him, trying to form the words to deny it. He had only told his mother and Grover, and tried to not think of it at all. "I don't."

Luke gave him a look and rested his left hand on the edge of the couch, "Oh, please. Don't bother denying it. Be honest right now. Annabeth isn't here, it's just me."

Percy sighed, "Alright. Fine."

Luke smiled victoriously, "I knew it. You should tell her soon."

Percy looked away, focusing on the television. "Why?"

"Because she likes you too."

Percy did a double take, "What do you mean?"

Luke eyed him distastefully, "You aren't really bright, are you?"

"I know what you mean. It's just, um, not true?"

Luke stared up at the ceiling and let out a deep breath. "I swear, you and my sister are both fucking idiots."

Percy crossed his arms, "Excuse me."

Luke took his feet off the furniture and turned to him, eyes blazing. "Listen to me. I've hurt Annabeth and so has almost everyone in her life. I don't think you will, based on what Annabeth says about you. So, I'm helping her be happy by telling you to go and ask her out. Don't be a coward, _but_ if you hurt her in any way, I will end you."

Percy stared him down, "I can't just ask her out."

Luke patted his back, "Sure you can. Just do it when she comes back."

"No I mean, I can't just _ask_."

Luke stood up, dusting his pants off, "You know Annabeth doesn't like showy things right?"

Percy glared at him, "I know that. It'd just be easier if I did it like through guitar or something. I don't know."

Luke laughed, "You're insane dude, it's fine."

Percy, mortified, groaned and ran a hand through his unruly hair. "This is going to be so embarrassing. I can't believe we're doing this. Aren't you supposed to be the over protective brother?"

Luke started walking away, "Oh, trust me. I am."

Percy collected his thoughts and walked into the kitchen where Luke saluted him. He walked out the door, but not before mouthing something to Annabeth.

The blonde girl turned towards Percy, "What's going on?"

_Hell if I know. Please don't let me mess up. _

He motioned her towards the couch and she sat down suspiciously.

_Well, here goes nothing. _


	18. Chapter 18

_A/N- You guys are cool. _

Chapter 18

Annabeth sat down on the couch, waiting for him to just spit it out. He looked a little pale and he kept wringing his hands together. She looked around the room waiting for something weird to happen.

"So..." he began.

"Uh, hi?" Annabeth said, confused.

"I can't do this. I'm going to get an aneurysm," Percy muttered.

Before Percy could seemingly steel his nerves and get it out, Annabeth felt the vibration in her pocket. She held up a finger to Percy, giving him an apologetic glance, and walked out of the room. She looked down, her screen buzzing with two missed calls from Mom. Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Hi mom. What is it?"

Athena sounded nervous, which was strange all in itself, "Listen Annabeth, you need to come home."

Annabeth pinched the bridge of her nose, "Mom, I'm fine and perfectly healthy. I'm with Luke."

"Annabeth. It's about the divorce. You need to come home _now_."

Athena hung up the phone and the blonde teenage girl frowned at it.

_Ugh. _

_Luke – Annabeth_

_Yeah? Did Percy ask you? – Luke_

_Ask me what? – Annabeth_

_Oh, nevermind. What is it? – Luke_

_Mom says I need to come home. Can you please come? I don't want to go alone. – Annabeth_

_Kiddo, bring Percy – Luke_

_It's a family thing – Annabeth _

_Fine. – Luke _

She heard a knock on the door and ran to open it. Her brother looked at her with aggravation, "Let's go. I want to make this fast."

Annabeth ran into the room where Percy still sat, looking dejected. She coughed and he looked up. "Percy, my mom needs me to come home. You should probably go home too."

He stood up, "Is anything wrong?"

Annabeth shrugged, "I don't know yet. I'll text you or something if I need you."

Annabeth hugged him and put on her shoes, ushering the raven haired boy out the door. He shook hands with Luke, having a silent conversation with him before he left. The siblings piled into Annabeth's car and drove back to the Chase home. Once they stepped inside the house, they saw the entirety of the Chase family sitting around the formal dining table. Bobby and Matthew turned their heads, saw Luke, and ran towards him. He hugged each of them and took a seat in between Matthew and Annabeth. Frederick and Athena Chase looked at Luke with a mixture of surprise and disappointment.

Annabeth coughed, "Okay. We're here."

Athena folded her hands on the top of the table, shifting nervously. "So, we decided on the living arrangements."

This was the moment Annabeth had been waiting for and she could hear her heart thumping and the sweat beads gather on her forehead. Luke placed a hand on her wrist; a silent companionship and promise.

Frederick coughed and adjusted his glasses, "Yes. Well, the boys will stay with me and you will live with your mother."

Silence. An impenetrable silence. It lasted seconds, minutes. Bobby and Matthew dropped their gazes to the table, their posture slumped over in defeat. Luke just stared at them. He stared at them with anger, resentment, and disgust plain in his features. Annabeth stopped breathing, _this wasn't supposed to happen. _

Finally, she locked gazes with her mother, knowing this was her idea. "No."

Athena recoiled, "What do you mean '_no_'?"

"No. I'm not going to be separated from Bobby and Matthew," she said simply.

"That isn't your decision," Athena stated coldly.

Luke stood up, placing his hands down on the table, and leaned forward. "How dare you do this? You_ can't_ just separate Annabeth from the twins! Are you fucking insane?! You've lost your shit," Luke snarled.

Frederick snapped his gaze to Luke, "That is no way to speak to your mother."

Luke regarded him shrewdly, "You are _not_ my father; so don't act like it now."

Athena stood up as well, head held high, "Lucas, this does not concern you."

"It's always concerned me. I don't give a damn that you and Frederick kicked me out of the family. I don't give a damn about you two. I am here for Annabeth and the twins, and _fuck you_ for trying to decide what's best for them when you clearly do _not care_."

"They are my children! Of course I care!" Athena shrieked. Frederick, stunned from his tone, sat there in shock.

Luke laughed sharply, "Your _children_? _I _am your child. Don't you dare try and use that pathetic excuse anymore, it's not working in your favor any longer."

"Get _out_! You _are not_ welcome!" Frederick roared, looking him dead in the eye.

"You see, I don't care. I'm here for Annabeth. My _sister_. I will leave when she wants me to leave, and as far as I'm concerned; I've never been welcome here," Luke said softly.

Athena's expression broke and she collapsed back into the chair. She ran her fingers through her hair, trying to calm herself. "Annabeth, what do you want?"

Annabeth looked up, her vision blurry. She didn't even realize she was crying until then. She tugged on Luke's arm so he would sit down again. He sat down stiffly and looked at her with concern. She wiped her face and used his shoulder as a head rest. Only then, did he relax. "I don't care where I go. I'm a legal adult. I just want Bobby and Matthew."

Athena snapped her head up, "No. I know what you're going to say. The answer is no. I don't care what you both think, you cannot all live with Lucas. It is out of the question. You only just turned eighteen, don't kid yourself."

Matthew spoke, "Why not? I want to stay with Luke and Annabeth. They're my family too."

Frederick stood up, "_Shut up. _Lucas Castellan is _not _your family. He never was nor will he ever be." The Chase father looked frazzled and his face was completely red from his outburst.

Matthew shrank back into his seat and Annabeth could see him rapidly blinking to keep the moisture away. Their father never yelled at them, let alone tell them to shut up. Annabeth was so shocked and _pissed_.

"Tell them. Tell them the truth. I'm sure they'd love to know their _real_ parentage," Annabeth stated blandly, clearly challenging her parents.

"How do you know about that?" Frederick whispered.

Athena turned towards Luke. "That was _not _your right! It is not your place to tell her anything."

"I had _every _right! I'm her fucking brother; why wouldn't I tell her? You guys obviously weren't going to do it on your own, and she _deserves _to know. All three of them do," Luke said.

"What are you talking about?" Bobby asked.

"Nothing," Frederick snapped, "Boys, go to your room. Now."

They quickly stood from their chairs and scurried off to their room, slamming the door in the process. Annabeth watched her parents, after her brothers had left, Athena looked drained and slumped a little in her chair while her father looked ready to murder Luke on the spot.

Frederick leaned forward, "Listen you two. I am going to take Bobby and Matthew. Annabeth, you may live with Luke if you wish, you're a legal adult. I can't stop you, but do not try to tell me what to do with my own children."

Annabeth looked towards her mom, "Mother?"

Athena nodded warily and waved her hand. "I agree with your father's proposition. Just know that if you leave with Lucas, you leave this family. Just like he did." Luke stood up, pale, and his eyes were unforgiving.

"Don't do this to Annabeth, you can't do this to her. She's your _daughter_. Don't put her in this position," Luke pleaded.

Athena and Luke stared at each other, but none of them conceded. Annabeth tapped Luke, "What are you doing?"

Luke clenched his fists, "They are going to make you choose."

"What do you mean? Choose?"

Luke swallowed, "You have to choose. It's me or them. If you choose me, you are not considered a Chase anymore. If you choose them, you will not be able to see me anymore."

Annabeth snorted, "They wouldn't do that. Would you?" She turned to her parents and their silence was a confirmation.

She stood up, "I _hate_ you. I hate you both with every fiber of my being," They both visibly flinched and she continued, "You don't have your way and the first thing you do is kick me out of the family? For fighting for my brothers? You tossed my brother out like he was a piece of laundry and now me? What's next; kick Bobby out for not cleaning up his room? Luke and I are leaving. Goodbye."

She wrenched Luke's arm but he held his ground. "Annabeth, are you sure? This is your family. Don't make any rash decisions."

"You're my family too. I haven't seen you for _two goddamned years _and my parents are making me _choose_?! This isn't hard. They're the ones that put me in this position. Let's go."

This time, Luke complied and they walked to the front of the house, Frederick and Athena behind them. Bobby and Matthew came racing down the stairs and hugged the both of them, tears in their eyes. Luke whispered something in Matthew's ear and Annabeth patted Bobby's head telling him to be good. They turned around and before they could turn the doorknob, Frederick spoke out.

"Annabeth, if you walk out this door, you will never see your brothers again."

She opened the door and looked back, "Don't worry, I'll find a way."

They walked to her car and the ride was silent. When they pulled up in front of Luke's apartment, Luke placed his hand on top of hers. It was warm and comforting. He turned to her, "You don't have to do this. It's not too late to go back."

She turned towards him, gripping his hand tightly, "It's been too late."

Luke's eyes splintered and she could see the guilt creep on to his face. "I don't want you to regret this. I _can't_ let you get hurt anymore," his voice broke and she could see his struggle not to let a couple of tears fall.

Her heart broke and she tugged him out of the car. They started walking up the steps and she was still gripping his hand, trying to reassure him she wasn't going anywhere. Before he could open the door; she stopped him. "Look at me. I won't regret this. I will never regret it. They made me choose, expecting me to pick them over my brother. No sane parent would do that and I would do it over again. So please, stop beating yourself up for it. We're going to be fine."

She saw a small smile appear on his face and she smiled back.

He hugged her, "Alright kiddo. If you're ready for this."

She wrapped her arms around him tighter, "I've been ready."


	19. Chapter 19

_A/N- Alright guys. I've been ignoring this for a while, but now it's starting to piss me off. Those of you that are saying I have too much cussing are getting on my nerves. I don't need nor want to read that you don't want to read this because there's too much cursing. Seriously, shut up. Have you ever met a teenager? Like, a legitimate teenager. Not a thirteen or fourteen year old. Have you ever talked to one? I am a teenager in high school. Granted, some of them don't cuss but most of them do. Most cuss even worse this. You're fooling yourself if you think they aren't going to at least think with cursing. Also, it's rated T so I mean, it should've been a fair warning? I'm not changing it to M for cursing, that's ridiculous. What's even more ridiculous is the amount of people telling me over and over again that it's too much. You don't like cursing? Okay, then write your own goddamned story, but don't comment on mine. If I hear one more review complaining about the cussing, I will lose my shit so do not test me. The people that aren't saying anything, thanks, I appreciate it a lot. _

Chapter 19

_You need to come to my apartment_

_Uh, who's this? – Percy_

_Who do you think it is? Luke. – Luke_

_Hi to you too. How did you get my number? – Percy _

_Annabeth's phone. Now get over here. – Luke_

_Um, why? – Percy_

_Just do it holy shit – Luke_

_Okay, okay. I'm coming. – Percy_

Percy pocketed his phone, hugged his mom, and drove to Luke's apartment. Once there, he knocked on the door and saw Luke quietly open it. He put a finger over his mouth and ushered Percy inside.

_Okay?_

He took off his shoes and watched Luke put a blanket over Annabeth's sleeping form, a fond sibling look in his eyes. It reminded him of his own brother, Tyson. Luke took a step back, pivoted towards Percy, and impatiently glanced towards the kitchen. Percy quietly walked over, or what he thought was quiet, but actually sounded like a six year old throwing a temper tantrum.

Once inside Luke, seated on the countertop, rolled his eyes.

"You're_ really_ quiet, aren't you?"

Percy shot him a death glare, "Hey man. I have no idea what's going on."

Luke's hard look softened and he gazed out the open space towards Annabeth. "Did Annabeth tell you about her parents?"

Percy shrugged, "She told me that they're having problems. Wait, what do you mean _her _parents? Don't you mean _our _parents?"

Luke shook his head softly, "Of course. Annabeth likes to underestimate things. The truth is, they're getting divorced. And, we're half siblings, her dad isn't mine. Anyway, I got kicked out of the family-" Percy stared at him, "Wait what?!" Luke shrugged, "I got kicked out of the family. Maybe I'll tell you about that some other time._ Anyway_, her parents split up Bobby and Matthew from Annabeth."

Percy's eyes dropped to the floor. He always liked the guys, they looked at him with hero worship, plus it was fun to mess with Annabeth with them. Luke caught his eye and nodded resignedly, seeming to understand his thoughts. "There's more."

Percy leaned back, his hands playing with the edge of the sink, "What else could there be?"

Luke crossed his arms, "Annabeth got kicked out of the family too." There was a very pregnant pause and Percy's mind reeled.

_Annabeth? But Annabeth is like the perfect child? Damn, I wonder if I would get kicked out too. Huh. Maybe their family just likes kicking people out? _

"How? I mean, why? Annabeth is a good kid."

Luke rolled his neck and ran a hand through his sandy hair. "Yeah, well, her parents gave her a choice. She could stay with me or live with her mom and see Bobby and Matthew like on a schedule. I don't know how this works, I'm only 20, after all."

The realization took Percy a while. "…She picked you, didn't she?"

Luke's brows crinkled and his posture slumped. He was no longer confident, but looked like a sad, confused little boy who needed a hug. Percy felt a little bit of pity towards him then remembered that Luke wouldn't appreciate that. "Why didn't she live with her mom and then just visit you?"

"Because, Mom and Frederick would know. It doesn't matter. They were shitty parents, the only reason she put up with them was because of Bobby and Matthew. No matter how much she acted like they annoyed her, they were everything to her."

Percy rubbed his forehead, "Why are you telling me this?"

Luke shrugged, "I don't want Annabeth to close up. I know Annabeth, her choice will eat her up from the inside out, it's toxic. She'll deflect a lot and she can't do that. She needs to live her life to the fullest and she needs someone to turn on the light when she's in the dark."

Percy spoke slowly, "And you want me to be that person?"

"Exactly."

"Why don't you get Thalia to do it? Or you?"

"Thalia doesn't live here. She visits a lot, but she isn't going to be here enough for her. I am her brother, of course she's not going to confide in me as much as she needs to," Luke snapped, worry lines showing on his forehead. Upon closer inspection, Percy could see the beginnings of dark circles under his eyes.

Percy sagged a little and nodded, "I'll always be here for her."

Luke sighed in relief and sat up, "Great. Just…don't hurt her. She's going to test your patience but stay by her side. Help her not to be bitter."

Percy shrugged, "I can do that."

Luke chuckled, jumped off the counter, and patted Percy on the back. "You're a good kid, Percy."

Percy raised his hands, "I am two years younger than you. I'm 18?!"

Luke walked towards the entrance, "You sound just like her."

As he took the first step, Percy heard his voice ring out in the silence. "You know, you and Annabeth don't act like brother and sister? It's kind of weird. A good weird, but weird."

Luke looked back to him, "We've never been normal. Now, let's go."

Percy complied, following him out into the room. They looked up to see Annabeth sitting up, running a hand through her tangles. She turned her heads toward them, mid blink, and they froze. "Percy?" Annabeth said tiredly.

"Hi," he mumbled and walked over, sitting down next to her.

She rubbed her eyes and turned to her brother, "Luke?"

"Hey kiddo," he said weakly. She shifted positions to face the both of them at the same time. "What are you guys doing?"

"Nothing," Luke said quickly. Annabeth narrowed her eyes and jabbed her finger in Percy's chest, "I'm going to find out."

Percy laughed nervously, "It really was nothing. Don't worry."

Luke leaned against the wall, "Yeah, we were just talking shit about you. Nothing to worry about."

Annabeth cracked her neck and threw her pillow at him, "You guys are assholes." Luke grinned and walked to the adjacent armchair. He grabbed a cup of water on the coffee table and took a sip. "How are you holding up?"

Annabeth sighed, "I want to say I'm okay, but I'm not." She glanced towards Percy and her eyes widened then returned to their normal size. "You told him, didn't you?" She jabbed her thumb towards the green eyed boy sitting next to her.

Luke shrugged and Annabeth shrugged slightly different in reply. Luke looked relieved and sank back down in the chair. Percy looked back and forth between them in bewilderment. "Okay, are you guys communicating through _shrugs_?"

Annabeth poked his arm, "Jealous?"

Luke scoffed, "Of course he is. We're perfect while he has to waste away his life as an only child." Annabeth snickered and Percy lifted his chin.

"I have a brother."

Annabeth looked at him in surprise, "Since when?!" she demanded.

He stared at her, "Uh, since I was 13?"

Annabeth cooed, "Do you have a picture? What's his name? Oh, that means he's five? Aw, can I meet him?"

Percy rolled his eyes and pulled out his wallet, pulling out a picture for Annabeth to see. "His name's Tyson. Yes, he's five. Why do you want to meet him? I mean, I guess you could."

Annabeth squealed, "He is so cute! I want to meet him."

Percy groaned, "Ugh."

Annabeth shook his shoulder, "Please, Percy? Please?"

Percy glared up at her, his view masked by his eyelashes, "Fine."

Luke threw a pillow at Annabeth, "You guys are like a couple. Shut up and let's watch tv or something."

Annabeth blushed and fidgeted while Percy shot him the, _what the hell man _look.

Luke winked at Percy and mouthed _just helping you out_. Percy rubbed his eyes and looked up to see the red undertones in Annabeth's cheeks still there. He smirked and tapped his foot against the floor, humming under his breath. "When do you want to meet Tyson?" he asked Annabeth.

"Anytime is fine with me."

"How about never?"

"Percy, stop being annoying."

Luke butted in. "Can you both stop being annoying and go away or shut up? I'm trying to watch something here."

Annabeth snickered and stuck her tongue out at Luke. "Are you five? How utterly childish," he said affectionately. Annabeth harrumphed and turned back to Percy. "Do you want to leave now so Luke can watch _in peace_?"

"Now?" he said incredulously.

Behind Annabeth's head, Luke nodded his head vigorously, silently begging. Percy sighed and tugged on his shoes. "Let's go." Annabeth cheered and raced out the door.

Percy turned to Luke, "You owe me big for this man." Luke shrugged, "You're the one that likes her, don't pretend you don't want to hang out with her."

Percy grumbled and slowly walked to the front of the car, letting Annabeth plug in her phone and listen to whatever she wanted.

"Keep Your Head Up?" Percy asked.

He saw Annabeth fidget, "Yeah, I like Andy Grammer."

He nodded, "Yeah, me too. This song is universal."

Annabeth nodded, "Exactly. I'm pretty sure even Thalia secretly likes this song."

Percy turned it higher and sang along, Annabeth joining in. When the song ended, Annabeth scrolled through her phone looking for another song.

"Do you like Parachute?"

She blinked, "What's that? Is it a hardcore punk song I'm going to hate?"

"A band, Annabeth."

She shrugged, "Nope. What song should I listen to?"

"Uh, I like a lot of their songs. Try She is Love or She (For Liz)."

At the end of both songs, he heard Annabeth pick Kiss Me Slowly and laughed. "Oh, okay. So do you like this 'hardcore punk' band?" he teased. She grumbled, "I hate you."

"Aw, Annabeth don't hate me," he sing songed.

"Oh, shut up," she teased.

Once they were there, Annabeth jumped out of the car, giving Percy impatient glances every once in a while.

_Help me. _

He opened his front door, calling out a hello to his parents. Sally came out of the doorway, a packet of cheese in her hand and a spoon in the other. She saw Annabeth and wiped her hands on the closest napkin, eyes shining.

"Hi Mrs. Jackson, I'm Annabeth. I'm friends with Percy."

Sally grinned, "Hi Annabeth. Yes, Percy's talked about you before." Annabeth turned her gaze towards him, questioningly, and he could feel the mortification on his face. He coughed and his mom just smiled.

"Mom, she wants to meet Tyson."

Sally's grin enlarged and she patted Annabeth on the back, "Of course, of course. He's upstairs."

Annabeth ran upstairs and Percy's mom faced him. "She's quite pretty. Seems nice too. Good job," she said.

Percy just hugged his mom and took off after Annabeth hearing his mom to tell him to _have fun but not too much fun. _

_When will the embarrassment end?_

He jogged upstairs to see Annabeth sitting on _his _bed watching tv with Tyson. Annabeth heard him enter and said without looking up, "Nice underwear."

Percy blushed and spotted Annabeth staring at his dirty boxers hanging on the back of his chair. He quickly took it in his hand and threw it into the laundry basket, hoping she wouldn't say anything more about his too messy room.

Tyson tapped Annabeth's shoulder, "He's lazy. And messy."

Annabeth cackled and Percy scowled and sat down on the other side of Tyson, "Have you seen your room? I have no idea how you can sleep in there, there's legos everywhere."

Tyson shrugged and took to watching the tv again. Percy shoved him, "I'm trying to hang out with Annabeth, leave." Tyson shook his head, "Annabeth said she's here for me. So you go away."

Baffled, Percy saw Annabeth adamantly stare at the tv, her lips faintly twitching. "Seriously?"

Tyson smirked and whispered loudly, "See? I told you."

Annabeth fell back against the bed, laughing loudly against the pillows. Percy threw his pillow at her, "Oh you think that's funny?" Annabeth pulled the pillow away from her face and nodded, her smile so big Percy was sure it was close to breaking her face. She threw his pillow back at him and Tyson tugged on her curls. "Are you guys having a pillow fight?"

"Yeah, you want to help me beat Percy up?"

"Uh, you guys can't beat me up. I'm pretty sure it's the other way around."

Tyson whispered into her ear and Percy eyed them warily, waiting for them to hit him or something until Tyson stopped and just leaned back against the pillows again, Annabeth doing the same. "What?" Annabeth asked a little too innocently. They both turned to the tv, talking animatedly to each other. He sat back cautiously, keeping his guard up.

After 30 minutes or so, he relaxed fully and closed his eyes, pulling his pillow over his face. Suddenly, he heard a, "Now!" and felt someone smash the pillow further against his face. He spluttered and threw the pillow off, seeing Annabeth smiling up above him, her hair making a curtain around his face. "Where's Tyson?" he croaked.

"I don't know."

He groaned and stood up, "Let's go find him."

Once he stood up, he heard a, "I'm right here." He craned his neck to look back and saw Tyson leap onto his back, from the window, hanging on for dear life. Percy couldn't breathe and easily made Tyson release his chokehold. He flipped him in the air and hoisted him up onto his back. He heard his mom yell for dinner and walked down the stairs, Tyson still on his back.

"Let me down, Percy," Tyson squealed.

"Uh, no. You're going to attack me again, sorry little man," Percy said.

His mom peeked her head out the kitchen, seeing her two sons playing with each other. Once all three of them had dinner, lasagna and salad, they hung around for a while, talking. Tyson was still eating and, without looking up, said, "Annabeth should come over more often."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Why is that?"

Tyson grinned at her, "Because, Percy isn't this fun and you're here and now he's fun."

Percy dropped his fork, "What do you mean?"

Tyson stared at him, genuinely confused, "You come home and don't talk to me. You talked to me now that Annabeth's here."

Sally and Annabeth had fallen silent while Percy weighed Tyson's words. It was true. Percy had been too busy with his own life to hang out every once in a while with Tyson. The last time he spent some time with him must've been a couple of months ago.

_Crap, I'm a shitty brother._

He coughed, "Well, I'll be more fun now. Even if Annabeth's not here."

Tyson nodded happily and returned to his lasagna. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Annabeth look at him with approval and his mother almost crying from happiness. After Tyson finished, they sat on the couch, watching movies 'til it was close to 11:00. He felt Annabeth nod off, laying her head down on the couch and saw Tyson asleep. He cracked his joints and shook Annabeth.

"Annabeth, come on. It's time for me to take you home."

She sleepily blinked awake and nodded. She rolled over and flicked Tyson's forehead. He grumbled and his nose twitched, slowly his eyes opened. "What?"

"I have to go. Bye, Tyson."

"Bye Annabeth," Tyson mumbled and closed his eyes again. Annabeth called out a goodbye to Sally and headed back home with Percy. Once at Luke's apartment, Annabeth groaned and cracked her neck.

She turned towards Percy, "I love your family."

He chuckled, "Me too."

She opened the car door and stepped out, waving goodbye to Percy. Percy waited until she was let in by Luke and looked backwards to back up. He heard the vibration from his phone and opened the text.

_Thanks - Luke _


	20. Chapter 20

_A/N- Hi y'all. Um, I don't know exactly when I'm going to end the story... I know how I want the ending to be, but there are some loose ends to tie up and more explaining. Enjoy some sibling bonding. Oh yeah, tell me if you want longer chapters. I dunno if you guys prefer 1,000-2,000 word chapters or more... If you want longer chapters, you might have to wait longer! Okay, let me know. Have a great day! Also, this isn't going to end up into some crazy, out of the world, drama filled fic that ends up weird like they're secretly spies or something. I always hated those. I KEEP FORGETTING TO MENTION THIS, IF YOU DON'T LIKE CUSSING YOU CAN LOOK AT MY ONE SHOT, BUT IT'S ANGSTY AND YEAH. Alright, that's actually it. _

Chapter 20

Annabeth woke up to the sound of thudding footsteps and the smell of coffee. She padded out of the room and into the living room to see Luke plucking away on his guitar. She stopped, surprised, and continued to watch him in silence. He sat upright, coughed, and started playing. It was an old song, one her brother taught her long before he left.

_Annabeth sat on the edge of Luke's bed, facing his covers. His room was so much weirder than hers, it was painted blue and he didn't really have much of anything in there. He just had his guitars, some posters, and the usual. She heard him open the door and close it again. _

"_Hey, isn't it an unspoken rule to always knock first?" _

_She looked up, "I guess. You weren't here though so it wouldn't have made a difference." _

_He laid down and propped his feet in her lap. She sighed and didn't even complain about the smell of his feet or the dirty state of his clothes. He adjusted his pillow and tugged on her long curls. "Hey, what's wrong?"_

_Annabeth crinkled her nose, "What makes you think anything is wrong?"_

"_Well for once you aren't complaining about my feet. Second, you don't come here unless something's bothering you. So, what's wrong?"_

_She fixed a small smile, "Couldn't I just see you?"_

"_No," he said seriously. _

_She sighed and leaned backwards, his feet still in her lap. He wiggled his toes and she laughed, it tickled. "Nothing. Mom and Dad keep arguing and people at school are saying I'm a freak. Am I a freak?" He tensed and sat up, dangling his feet over the edge of his bed. _

"_Who's saying that?"_

"_Everybody," she said glumly. _

_He pushed her shoulder, "Hey, listen to me. You aren't a freak, okay? At all. If they keep saying that, go push them into a ditch. If that doesn't work, I'll go beat them up."_

_Annabeth chuckled, "I don't think you could beat anybody up."_

_He threw his arm around her shoulders, "I could and would for you." _

_She scrunched her eyebrows, "Aren't you supposed to tell me to suck it up and kick me out of your room?"_

"_Why is that?"_

"_Drew says that that's what real brothers do. She said that it makes me even weirder. She told me I was a loser and that our family was a bunch of outcasts just trying to fit in." She put her chin in her hands and stared at the door. _

_His arm tightened, "Well, she's wrong. She's just stupid, why are you listening to her?"_

_She shrugged, "I don't know, all I know is that it bothers me."_

_He ruffled her hair, "Well, you want to know what I do when I'm sad?"_

_She turned her face towards him, "What?"_

_He stood up and sat in the chair facing his desk. He spun around and grabbed a guitar and handed it to her. He grabbed one for himself and turned to her. She plucked the strings delicately, afraid that she might break it. "Luke, I don't know how to play."_

_He shrugged, "It's alright. I'll play something for you and if you like it, I'll teach you. What do you want to hear?"_

"_I don't know. Something sad."_

_"Are you sure? I know a lot of sad songs."_

_"Yeah, I'm sure."_

_His eyes softened, "If that's what you want. This is old. It's called Behind Blue Eyes by The Who. Don't play it unless you're feeling really low, it takes the meaning away. I'm playing the Limp Bizkit version though, just saying."_

_She rolled her eyes, "I have gray eyes. You're the one with blue eyes."_

"_Shut up and listen to the song. You're so hard to please."_

She smiled softly at the memory and stepped into the room, singing along to the verse.

_No one knows what it's like_

_To feel these feelings_

_Like I do_

_And I blame you_

He looked up at her, but didn't stop.

_No one knows what it's like_

_To be the bad man_

_To be the sad man_

_Behind blue eyes_

She sat down and propped her head on her chin and sang with him to the end, the last strum still ringing in their ears.

"Why were you singing that song?" she asked.

He put it aside, "Don't know. It was the first thing that came to mind. I don't think I could ever forget that song."

"Me neither. But, Luke, you told me that you only play that song when you really need it."

He didn't look up, "Yeah."

"So why were you playing it?"

He looked up this time, "I went to the house to get your stuff. Which is by the door, by the way. Mom had a few words to say, as did Frederick. I don't want to talk about it. Sorry, I know you wanted to say bye to the twins."

She winced, "It's fine. I'll find them after school. Thanks for getting my stuff though."

He didn't say anything and absentmindedly plucked random notes. She grabbed her Taylor by the door and sat down next to him on the couch. He was obviously troubled by what her parents had to say to him and stayed silent. She remembered what her brother always did for her when she was upset, and it was time to return the favor.

_I started a joke_

_Which started the whole world crying_

_But I didn't see_

_That the joke was on me, oh no_

He looked up and she kept playing, keeping her eyes on him. He grabbed his Martin and began playing when she hit the next verse, singing along.

_I started to cry_

_Which started the whole world laughing_

_Oh, if I'd only seen_

_That the joke was on me_

His voice shook towards the end and Annabeth's voice became strangled. They finished the song, letting the lull of the refrigerator take over the silence.

Finally, he smiled and said, "You know, you might be getting better than me."

She scoffed, "Are you kidding me. I was better than you ever since you taught me that song."

He snorted, "I was being nice. I will always be better than you. The student does not surpass the teacher. I always knew you were a Bee Gees kid."

She stood up, "Everyone's a Bee Gees kid. Now, go make us some breakfast."

"So needy," he tsked. He still got up and walked to the kitchen, humming under his breath and put some bread in the toaster. Luke walked to the bluetooth speaker and turned it on, blasting a song he was sure she knew. He cracked an egg and looked up, seeing a glaring Annabeth.

"Why do you do this to me? That was so embarrassing."

He walked to the fridge, smiling. He grabbed an apple and bit into it, his singing muffled by the juices of the fruit.

_Baby got 'em open all over town_

_Strictly bitch, you don't play around_

_Cover much ground, got game by the pound_

_Getting paid is a forte_

_Each and every day, true player way_

_I can't get her out of my mind_

She walked over to the speaker, shuffling through her songs until she mischievously smiled.

_I see you driving 'round town with the girl I love_

_And I'm like,_

_Fuck You_

He groaned, "It was one time. You suck." Nevertheless, he let his sister continue to howl the song, joining in, pleased at his sister's amused expression. Once he hit the _extremely _weird part of Cee Lo's song he faked tears and wailed.

_Now baby, baby, baby, why d'you wanna wanna hurt me so bad?_

_I tried to tell my mamma but she told me_

_"This is one for your dad."_

_I was like,_

_Ugh_

_Why?_

_Ugh_

_Why?_

_Ugh!_

_Why lady?_

Annabeth roared with laughter and joined him.

_Oh!_

_I love you._

_Oh!_

_I still love you._

_Oooh!_

Annabeth grinned and Luke flashed her a doting smile. He laid her breakfast down on the countertop and they ate, still listening to Annabeth's not punk songs. Once they finished, he lowered the music and turned back to her, eyes serious.

"I need to talk to you about something I think is important."

"What is it?"

He opened his mouth and Annabeth stayed silent, her expression turning into one of bafflement and shock.


	21. Chapter 21

_A/N- I apologize for the really late update. I've been busy with a lot of stuff, so s'il vous plait don't expect daily updates. To make up for my absence here's a special Luke perspective, kind of. I mean, it's 3rd person omniscient not 1st person but yeah. Okay. I hope you guys have been alright and stuff. Are any of you guys musicians? _

Chapter 21 (Special Luke Perspective)

Luke doesn't know why he blurted it out like that, his plan was to slowly ease her into it. It didn't happen like that. He opened his mouth and quickly said, "Percy likes you." He shut his mouth and cursed inside his mind. She stared at him, mouth open.

He looked at her warily and when she didn't respond, he kept talking. "Percy likes you and I think you should tell him how you really feel."

_Wow, that was not supposed to come out like that. _

Annabeth folded her arms, "How would you know?"

"He told me," he said bashfully, rubbing the back of his neck.

Annabeth cocked an eyebrow, "And when did he tell you?"

Luke reddened, "Um, remember when I told you to go make drinks so I could talk to Percy?"

"You didn't," she deadpanned.

He nodded, "I did."

"And why would he tell you?" she prodded.

"I confronted him about it. He didn't deny it. At all. Confirmed it actually," he said honestly.

Annabeth buried her head in her hands and Luke wanted to go pat her on the back and tell her it was okay. "Why _on earth _did you do that?" she mumbled.

"Uh, I wanted you to be happy?" he questioned.

"I would've been happy if he _didn't know_!" she shrieked.

"Hey, I didn't say I told him that you like him too," Luke cried defensively. Annabeth slapped his arm and he knew it was going to leave a mark. "The look on your face says it all!"

She kept slapping him and he warded his face with his arms, "Annabeth, calm down! You both _like each other._ How is this difficult? Now, you can both be happy and all that crap."

Her expression turned scared, "Luke, you told him last week. He hasn't asked me out _for a whole week_. He probably just wants to get over it or maybe he lied to you. Guys lie a lot. What if he avoids me now, crap. Ugh, I can't believe you did that."

He rolled his eyes, "Stop freaking out and go tell him you like him and act all surprised and stuff."

She huffed, "It's 10 in the morning. On Saturday. I'm not going to do that."

He stood up and walked to the couch, hearing Annabeth follow him. She took the seat next to him and he placed his feet in her lap, like he used to do. She scowled at him but didn't make a move to remove them. He smiled smugly and plucked his baby. He watched Annabeth pluck her Taylor, propping the body on top of his ankles.

"Annabeth, how did you afford that? Aren't you, uh, broke?"

She smiled wolfishly, "I didn't pay for it. Mom and Dad did."

Luke buried his face into the pillows, groaning loudly. "Bananabeth, why are you such a trouble maker? It's a bad habit."

She tickled his feet, causing him to yelp, "Says you. You're the one who used to steal stuff and you got into a fight."

"I'm a reformed criminal. Plus, I only fought one time!" he cried indignantly.

"Sure, keep telling yourself that." She giggled and smiled widely. Luke coughed and adjusted his feet in her lap. She glared at him and set her Taylor down, gesturing at him widely.

"So, when are you going to tell Percy?"

"Why do you care?"

"Because I want you to be happy, is that such a hard concept to understand?" he sniped.

She flicked his toes, "Why would telling Percy help me be happy? What if he says it's a mistake or something?" Annabeth, usually so confident, sounded worried.

Luke poked her stomach with the heel of his foot, causing her to squeal and half-heartedly push his feet off. He stayed upright and nudged her again.

"Don't be stupid. Just go tell him, don't be afraid. Even if he rejects you, it's not the end of the world. I'll just tell you my brotherly instincts were right and I never liked him in the first place. And I could beat him up for you if you wanted me too."

Annabeth groaned and he could see the immense hesitation and fear in her eyes.

_I never thought I'd have to push Annabeth to do something. _

He removed his feet and crossed his legs, she looked at him and he took a breath.

"Okay, remember that time you were scared?" she opened her mouth and he continued, "Yeah, exactly, never. You don't get scared. So why are you scared now?"

She closed her mouth again and pursed her lips, staring at her clasped hands. He waited a couple of seconds before she turned to him, her eyes fierce. "You're right."

He nodded, "I am. As usual, I might add."

"You. Are. So. Full. Of. Yourself," Annabeth stated, enunciating each word.

He shrugged, "With good reason."

Annabeth sighed and relaxed against the slew of pillows, "I'll tell him sometime."

"Why 'sometime'? Why not Monday or tomorrow?"

"I'm not going to lie, I just want to relax right now. This divorce has been really hard. Being kicked out of the family is even more difficult. I just want some time to fully process it before I do something big and crazy. If Percy does happen to like me, then I don't want to jump into the relationship with an onslaught of problems. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I get it. Trust me kiddo, I know. Hey, I have one last surprise for you."

Annabeth's eyes crinkled, "What is it? I don't like surprises."

"I'm one hundred percent sure you'll like this one. Promise."

Annabeth sighed, "Alright. I know the drill." She placed a hand over her eyes and turned away from Luke. He got up towards the door, excitement pumping through his veins. He opened the door and silently let the visitors in and stood them in front of Annabeth.

"Alright Annabeth, open your eyes."

She sighed again, "Luke, if this is something stupid or crazy, I'm not in the mood." Reluctantly, she opened her eyes and gaped, her eyes bugging out of her head.

"Surprise!" Bobby and Matthew shouted.

"Holy shit!" Annabeth screamed. They stared at her in shock and turned to Luke, puzzled. Luke scratched the back of his head, dazed.

_Isn't she supposed to be happy?_

Just then, Percy stepped through the doorway, carrying two bags filled with food and movies. "So, how'd she like the surprise?"

Luke turned to him, shaking his head furiously to stop him from stepping into Annabeth's line of vision. Too late, she turned to him. "What are you guys doing here?!"

Percy set them down onto the nearest table and walked into the living room. "Um, to surprise you?"

Annabeth was red and her face was a mixture of disbelief, excitement, and confusion. She pulled Luke and Percy by the collars of their shirt, growling out a, "We need to talk. Now." Once she practically threw them into the kitchen, she paced back and forth in front of the stove, her fingers twitching. As her incessant mumbling heightened in volume and theatrics, Luke became increasingly worried.

_Did I do something wrong? _He sneaked a glance to Percy who just shrugged at him in reply.

Finally, Annabeth stopped and turned towards the both of them, face pale and drawn. Percy stiffened up and looked like he wanted to reach a hand towards her. Luke subtly glared at him and Percy backed down.

"I'm going to ask you this, one time. And one time only," Annabeth growled.

"Yeah?" Percy asked.

"What _the hell _were you two thinking?!" Annabeth screeched.

Luke furrowed his eyebrows, "Um, that you wanted to see the twins and so did I?" Percy nodded in agreement, confused as well.

Luke's sister continued on as if she hadn't heard them. "So irresponsible. How did you even sneak them past Mom and Dad? No, don't answer that. How are we supposed to get them _back_ home? Mom is going to kill you, but not if I kill you first! Holy fuck, I can't believe you two did this without even asking me first. I appreciate the thought and effort but you can't _just do this._"

She whipped her head back towards them, eyes blazing. Luke saw Percy narrow his eyes and speak up. "Uh, we did think this through. Can you just chill?"

Luke wanted to bury his face in his hands. _Percy is literally so stupid. Holy shit. _

Annabeth stiffened and clenched her fists. "_Chill?_"

"Yes, chill out and appreciate something, for once in your life! Why do you worry so much?"

Luke almost shoved him off of the stool. _Seriously? __He's going to get us both killed. _The sandy haired boy turned his head upwards and squeezed his eyes shut in an exaggerated motion of prayer. He slowly opened his eyes to see Annabeth staring blankly at the countertop, her mouth quirked downwards.

"'Appreciate something for once in my life'? Really, did you just say that to me? Who do you think you are? You have no right to say that. No right to assume things about me, when you don't know a damn thing. I'm worried for my brothers," Annabeth said lowly, "You have no idea what my parents are like."

Percy paled and looked like he heavily regretted his words. Before he could open his mouth, Luke leaned across the countertop and patted her hand, causing her to startle and look up. "It's alright. We really did take care of it. I promise."

"Fine," Annabeth replied curtly, and strode out the room, with Percy calling out her name. He saw the boy slump and turns toward him, eyes upset.

"She's mad at me."

_Of course she is, seriously, dumb as hell. _

Luke glared at the quailing boy and nodded. He turned towards the room, watching Annabeth play with her brothers. He turned back to the boy who was also watching her, with downcast eyes.

"Yeah. You fucked up."


	22. Chapter 22

_A/N- Sorry for the extremely late update, like I've said, as summer's drawing to a close I've been getting busier and busier. Uh, updates are probably going to be like this, a week in between them maybe a couple of days if inspiration hits and I have time. I'm trying to wrap this story up as soon as possible, without making it seem too rushed. Um, I hope you guys have had a great summer, and it'd be cool to hear what you guys did or anything that happened. Or to just let me know about anything, really. Once again, thanks for waiting and the favorites, follows, and reviews! Stay awesome. _

Chapter 22

She heard two pairs of footsteps pitter patter into the living room and settle down on the furniture. Instead of looking towards the two of them, she kept her eyes trained on Bobby and Matthew and continued to smile widely, despite the churning in her gut.

"Annabeth," Percy said quietly.

She ignored him and continued chatting with Bobby about the differences between an acoustic and a classical guitar.

"Annabeth," Percy said a little louder.

She kept talking, pretending not to be able to hear him. Matthew tapped her shoulder and Bobby stared wide eyed past her shoulder. She turned to Matthew, giving him a questioning gaze. He pointed towards the dark haired figure and mouthed something incomprehensible.

"Are you seriously going to do this? The silent game? Of all the-" she heard him stop and out of the corner of her eye saw Luke shaking his head vigorously at Percy, giving him a warning glare.

Percy cleared his throat, "Can I talk to you? _Please_?"

Annabeth sighed and stood up, pretending to brush the dust off her pants. Luke gave her a sarcastic thumbs up and pointed to the hallway. Motioning with her head, Annabeth directed Percy out there. She faced him and crossed her arms, glaring at him.

"What do you want?" she hissed.

"To talk."

"There's nothing _to talk _about," she said adamantly.

"Bullshit. Aren't you at least going to let me apologize?" he fired.

"Why should I? You made yourself quite clear back there," she shot back.

He fisted his hair, closed his eyes, and slowly reopened them. "I'm trying to do the right thing," he spit out.

"Fuck you. The only reason you called me out here was to make me stop being pissed at you. Not because you actually regret saying that to me," she said bitterly.

His eyes softened and she could see the guilt creep into his eyes, but also an underlying fierceness to them.

"I'm being honest with you right now. I'm sorry if something I said upset you," he stated.

Annabeth almost rubbed the crease between her forehead, and she could feel the acne coming on from stress. "What do you want me to say?" she finally said.

"Nothing, just take your time," he replied, stepping back slightly. He looked at her sadly and shook his head minutely.

Honestly, this was the only time they've fought and she felt horrid for it. She always hated drama and arguments and she didn't want to lose his friendship with him being stupid and saying something out of line. But, she had to let him know that that was not okay to say and he shouldn't have said it, or thought it, in the first place.

"That honestly was not cool, don't say stuff like that again."

"Which part? Telling you to chill or to appreciate something," he said slowly and winced.

"Both."

"You gotta understand that I was just really frustrated that you didn't react the way I wanted you to. I never meant for it to come out like that or for you to be mad at me and not want to talk to me."

_That's such stupid reasoning. Fucking bullshit. Boys are such idiots._

Maintaining a cool façade Annabeth replied, "Cool."

Percy looked at her despairingly and leaned back against the wall, obviously upset at his own shitty attempts to come to peace with Annabeth again. "Alright, I'm just going to let you be you. Just know that I am sorry."

Annabeth stiffened, "There's a difference between apologizing and being legitimately sorry. So are you sorry or just apologizing so I won't be mad at you anymore?"

Annabeth realized he could lie on this stupid question and say that he was legitimately sorry, but she kind of wanted to see how he would react and answer the question.

He thought for a moment, obviously collecting his thoughts and opened his mouth. His eyes staring at her imploringly. "I always feel bad when I make other people mad. It unsettles me and makes me sad, so I am definitely sorry that I made you feel that way and I know I'm sorry because I feel terrible myself."

Annabeth opened her mouth to tell him that it was okay, but he shook his head and continued on.

"It would definitely help if you weren't mad at me but I can't force you to do anything, I just hope you feel better."

Internally, Annabeth groaned, knowing it was nearly impossible to stay angry at the heartfelt speech and wanted to bash her head into the wall for making her feel like this. She never had trouble keeping her anger for as long as she felt necessary, but now he was making her feelings unstable.

"Okay, fine. I forgive you."

His mood instantly brightened and he gave her a dorky, lopsided smile. Annabeth almost buried her face in her hands from how cute he looked, but settled for a neutral expression and turning away.

"How can I resist that smile?" she deadpanned.

He shrugged, "I dunno, but next time you're mad at me, I'll just keep smiling at you until you forgive me."

Annabeth rolled her eyes and stepped forward, burying her face into his shoulder. He gave her awkward boy pats on her back and returned the intimate gesture. When they released, they walked back into the living room, seeing Annabeth's siblings stare at them with sarcastic surprise.

Luke clapped sarcastically, "Well done. You've forgiven him. Of course, nobody suspected this outcome to happen."

Annabeth took the seat next to Luke and Percy flipped him off, seating himself adjacent to the twins, the both of them returning their hard gaze at the ceiling, fingers idly tapping away.

"You know Percy, you should write a book," Luke snipped.

"Oh yeah, about what?" he called back.

"How To Offend Women By Being A Complete Idiot," Luke said. Annabeth cackled and fell face first into her brother's lap. He ruffled her hair fondly and shrugged at Percy's murderous look.

"I don't offend women," Percy muttered.

He was met with stark silence and looked wildly around the room, a bewildered expression on his face. "Seriously?" Bobby asked.

"You know we heard you guys right? You're not very quiet and the kitchen kind of doesn't have a door," Matthew said. Bobby nodded his head in agreement.

"By the way, Percy, Luke's right. What you said was totally stupid, even Matthew wouldn't be that dumb," Bobby said.

"I hate you," Matthew replied flippantly.

Percy groaned and fell back onto the floor. "Am I ever going to live this down?"

Annabeth switched the channel on the tv,"Nope."

She heard him mutter something along the lines of _stupid siblings _and _always teaming up against other people _and smiled fondly at The Heat, playing on screen.


End file.
